School Tactics Advance
by scoutmasterkb28
Summary: A troubled boy, a sad girl, and new nation waiting to grow. A nation with new races:Symbians, Chimbians and Nidians. There's adventure, friendship and love! On half-hiatus
1. The Beginning

**Disclaimer :I DO NOT own Final Fantasy Tactics A2 and all copyrighted material belongs to their respective owners.**

**Claimer: This is my first story, I think it is going to be a long one. So please Enjoy! And one more thing, I only used a few systems from Final Fantasy Tactics A2. All my characters and job classes are ideas of my own but they still belong to their respective owners(including names and all). If anyone is wondering where is the reference from the game, just read until chapter four, then you'll know. I got these ideas while playing this game, so enough said. Let's enjoy the story!**

The land of the Symbians, a neighboring nation of Ivalice, which comprised a community of mixed races and cultures. Symbians, a dominant race who has a brown skin complexion, some are hardworking while some are just plain lazy, most of them are politically powerful. Chimbians are a race who have fair skin complexion, loved good values and has high morals. Nidians, a race who has dark skin complexion, works hard for their reward and party hard after working hard. Chimbians and Nidians preferred to be at the private sector. Everyone lived in harmony.

Like any other country, there are schools. The schools have co-curricular activities to encourage teenagers to acquire more knowledge and to develop skills. It is compulsory that every teen choose a co-curricular activity of their choice. Some of the activities include scouts, a class of people who are trained to use knives, ropes, axes and specific survival skills in the woods, the St. John Ambulance force, a group of people who heals using medical provisions for first aid, Orchestra members, a team who can increase morale or affect battle strength of a party. Special classes such as the Prefects are bestowed to a selected few as judges in battles and to enforce discipline to students.

One faithful day, a Symbian attacked a group of Chimbians and Nidians, causing chaos into the nation. Everyone battled against each other and this caused a great divide among the races.

The schools are now divided and colonized by the ministry to avoid interaction and war among races. Schools were divided into Symbian schools, Chimbian schools and Nidian schools.

Years later, some of the people's mindsets have changed. Some accepted each other as equals ignoring race and religion. Some of them still haven't change and continued their old ways.

The leaders of the nation decided to consult the leaders of Ivalice regarding on how to unite their nation. The Ivalice leaders suggested the clan system which has been used in their country and it has united the people(including banggaas, vieras and the rest). The system is going to be implemented in The Symbian land in a few days.

Now the story begins with a young Symbian-Chimbian (a mixed race) boy who is a scout leader trying to be the best scout he can ever be...

In the forest, a teenage boy on his Honda Shadow Phantom motorcycle is heading towards the border which splits from the tropical climate and winterly climate.

"Luckily I had adjusted my motorcycle and tires for these conditions" the boy said to himself.

The temperature dropped quickly and it was getting colder and colder. Then, snow can be seen in minutes while going around 80km/h on his motorcycle. The forest scenery changed into a winterly forest within minutes.

"Brr, it's getting cold out here but my bike could handle this freezing conditions" the boy continued as he rode through the winter climate that changed quickly.

The boy is going towards a mountain and riding on the winding road; switching gears when needed while going up the mountain. The snow on the road made it slippery but strangely he can maneuver in the snow with no problems. It seems like the road is of same condition all the way.

Once after the grueling ride up the mountain, he has reached his destination, a Cimbian temple stood right in front of him. He stopped his motorcycle, switched the motorcycle gears to neutral and turned it off. He adjusted his glasses as he took off his helmet and put it in the box attached to his motorcycle. It was a scenic walk all the way into the temple where tens of wushu learners lined up in rows shirtless for training. The Master, a tall senior teenager, stood right in the middle of the learners inspecting their performance. The boy approached and greeted the Master.

"Master, I'm Dan, a scout leader of district KB-28; I'm here to earn my martial arts badge by learning wushu here…." Suddenly Dan fell on the floor feeling cold because he wore a thin cotton jacket which cannot keep a person warm in winterly conditions.

"Quick! Way Peng, get some hot water and a thick jacket for this new disciple who has fainted here" the Master yelled to his disciple, a teen boy who has small eyes, a straight and rectangular head, who brought Dan to a room. A bucket of hot water and a jacket was brought into the room by another disciple.

Dan woke up after his legs were dipped into hot water for a few minutes, he was wearing a strange but familiar jacket, he realized that it was the jacket worn by the Master. Way Peng realized that Dan was awake and gave him a small cup of Chimbian tea.

"Here you go, drink it, it will make you feel better. I'll tell Master Yao Zhong that you are revived now."

He ran out from the room they were in. Without hesitation, Dan drank the tea and that warmed him up.

Minutes later, Way Peng returned into the room with Master Yao Zhong.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Master Yao Zhong and this is my loyal disciple, Way Peng." Master Yao Zhong said, " You will begin your training tomorrow, for now, you must rest well, you may not have time to recover after a day of our training…" the Master went out with his loyal disciple.

"Whew! At least** we **are accepted, but it's sure cold here, I thought my jacket can handle it, but oh well..." Dan talked to himself alone in the room while placing his glasses on a table provided and lied down on the bed.

**"I told you to bring a thicker jacket but nooo, he think he can survived the cold. Anyway I think you must rest well, I can predict tomorrow is going to be tough."**

The scout just slept on the thin mattress that was provided. His **shadow** was flickering by the fire. But he can still feel a cold chill even with the fire next to him. The hot water had become cold. He can only curl into a ball with his jacket given for warmth.

Author's space: this is my space! I claim this as mine! MINE!

Anyway I'm here to introduce Dan! Dan is normal 16 year old guy, like to ride motorcycles(maybe that's his only way of transport because he can only acquired the motorcycles license and the car license permits 17 year olds). He joined scouts since primary school and continued in secondary school. He chose to be a land scout. He used a combination of knives, axes and rope to attack (this will be seen in later chapters). He has a amateur radio license and use radio to communicate.

Hey!, Did you notice strange **bold** words around this chapter? i wonder what the heck was that? I mean what kind of **person**'s voice is typed in **bold**? Beats **me**. Maybe **you** should guess the whole thing. Why the** hell** some words get bolded for no reason? Maybe there is something wrong with my computer.*opens everything while the computer is still ON!* Nope, nothing wrong. Oh well, it's up to you to guess it then.

Author's last words: Yay! I just typed this! *looks at my computer clock* whoa! 2 hours to type this. Looks like I'm a slow typer…please review this chapter( I can't find a better word for "learners" mentioned above, please suggest a better word). You can contact me and send suggestions by email or you can add me on facebook at scoutmasterkb28.

Additional last words: I just edited this chapter again based on your suggestions. When you suggest more, the story improves! That's what I call feedback! Your suggestions are appreciated in this story.(1/3/10 update)


	2. Physical, Mental and Swordplay

**Chapter 2: Physical, Mental and swordplay **

"Today, you shall start your training," the master told Dan "Kian Yee will teach you physical fighting in wushu". He pointed to a chubby teenager. The weather was cold but Dan had gotten used to it.

"Ok! Let's start you training," Kian Yee said, "Let's start off with the palm thrust". He pushed his arm forward. Dan followed it exactly." Then there's the block" he moved his arm bent upwards then downwards. "This depends on where your enemy is attacking, you should know that right? That's common sense. Then when blocking, you can counter the attack. This is just the basics, you will learn more in the test right now."

Dan was shocked after hearing about the sudden test but he calmed down and prepared himself by taking a defensive stance. A split second later, the chubby teenager barged at Dan with a powerful arm thrust. Dan blocked it and pushed Kian Yee's arm upwards leaving him vulnerable. But using his other hand Kian Yee poked his elbow straight at Dan when he was about to counter attack. Dan using the arm he was blocking pushed Kian Yee to stop Kian Yee's counterattack. "You're good!" said Dan huffing air because of the cold conditions as it was snowing. "But it's my turn now!"

Dan thrust his palm, but as usual, Kian Yee blocked it. Dan swung his other arm sideways towards Kian Yee and Kian Yee blocked it. As Dan knew this, Dan grabbed Kian Yee's arm and spun him around. With Kian Yee's back facing Dan, Dan thrust his palm to it.

"Ack! Good counterattack!" said Kian Yee while rubbing his back.

Kian Yee thrust his elbow towards Dan but he did not get to block it. The attack hit his stomach. In return, Dan elbow punched Kian Yee but it was blocked. Just when it was blocked, Dan unfolded his bent arm and used his knuckle attacking to attack Kian Yee at the head.

"Ok, you've passed the test!"

"What? That's it?"

"Let me regain my senses first" Kian Yee was feeling dizzy during the last attack as it hit his head. After a few minutes Kian Yee continued." Ok, yes, you passed. The test was just to teach you how to learn moves while in a battle and manipulate it back to the opponent. This also proves that you are always ready anytime as wushu fighters are ready all the time. That's the basics for physical lesson today. I'll pass this to Kah Chun to teach you on internal power."

Another young boy, the same age as Dan came up to the arena. Kian Yee left the place as he had other duties to do.

"Now I'll teach you about internal power or most us will call it chi. This is totally different than physical attacks where you can master by mimicking their actions. Chi is the internal power contained in every living being, it can only be unleashed with calm thinking and focus. With chi, great strengths can be released. Chi can be released from the body and can flow outside of the body." Kah Chun thrust his palm lightly to a wall next to him; the force was enough to break the wall. Dan was amazed by the help of Kah Chun's chi applied on his palm was enough to achieve such strengths.

"Chi can be focussed into an energy ball, but this depends on your own element; everyone has a personal chi element. You can only find your own by focusing it at a point, the element will be collected at that point" Kah Chun opened his palm and a ball of light formed on his palm as his palm flashed. "Doing so takes the element from the environment and focuses it in a point."

"It looks like your element is light, right?" Dan asked Kah Chun. Kah Chun just replied with a nod.

"Now it's your turn to unleash it. Remember, you must have a calm and focussed mind."

Meanwhile, in the other arena, Kian Yee is teaching other wushu members.

"HYYAAA! YAAAHH! HRAAH!" the members yelled as they train.

Dan tried to calm down and focussednhis mind but the noise in the next arena posed a problem in calming down. Dan opened his palms, thinking something might happen, but because he cannot focus, nothing happened.

"Looks like I have to bring you to some place quiet then."

Kah Chun took Dan to a forest nearby the temple. "Here's a good place."

Dan continued his training. Dan focussed, trying to clear his mind but doing so makes him unable to focus.

"Focus on something small like a leaf or twig."

Dan aimed his palm to a leaf about 10 meters away and focussed to the target. His palm flashed a blue light and a water droplet formed and flew to the target. The droplet froze as it flew to the target because of the cold weather.

"Looks like yours is water!"

"That explains a lot about why I perform better in the rain and places with water!"

Kah Chun just ignored what Dan said and instructed him to create a ball of water.

Dan's palm flashed and water start to collect above his palm and the ball spun as more water collected. The air became a bit dry for some reason.

"It looks like you can use chi now". A temple disciple came to the forest where the two were training bearing news that the Master had summoned Dan into the Dueling Arena. Dan rushed to the Arena upon hearing the news.

The time was nearly evening, Master Yao Zhong called Dan into the Arena of Warriors at the temple. There stood Way Peng with a Chimbian sword in his hand.

"Now I want you to duel with Way Peng. You can have the choice of weapon which is provided in this room. Disarm Way Peng and you will pass the wushu weapon usage test," said the Master. "And I know scouts handle knives and weapons, so this should not be a problem for you," he continued.

With nothing but the skills he just learnt, Dan could only dodged the slashes from Way Peng's sword. He was chased to the wall, but Dan was lucky, he got hold onto a spear. With the spear, Dan blocked Way Peng's attacks and counter attacked with thrusts of his spear, but usually blocked by Way Peng. Way Peng swung his sword upwards to disarm Dan and sent his spear into the air. Way Peng jumped to follow Dan's spear and splitted it into two.

The spear head fall towards Dan and he grabbed it. He ran to the weapon stacks. He got hold on a wave-like sword and threw the spear head to distract Way Peng. The swordfight continued with both of them hitting and blocking each other.

After some time, both swords became hot as the friction between both swords has caused the sword to collect heat. With sparks flying all over the place as both swords hit each other although the arena was freezing cold. Dan can't find a way to end this battle until suddenly he got an idea. He ran to get another sword, holding it with his left hand. Using two swords, Dan blocked Way Peng's fast attacks and threw him to the wall using his second sword. He then threw his second sword towards Way Peng, but Way Peng was able to grab it with his left hand.

" That was a foolish move!" Way Peng said.

Without Way Peng noticing, Dan concentrated his chi on his remaining sword causing water to collect around it. The water didn't freeze because his sword was hot enough to sustain the water in a liquid state.. Dan slashed his sword from afar, the water flew towards Way Peng and hit his face. It froze on Way Peng's face, causing him unable to see. Way Peng frantically tried to break the ice with the back of his sword.

"Aiyaaa! I can't see!" Way Peng yelled as he tried to break the ice.

With this chance, Dan ran to Way Peng and used this opportunity disarm Way Peng's two swords.

"Heh…heh.., that was a good fight" Dan said while puffing vapor from his mouth.

"Good work! Excellent application of chi!" the Master exclaimed from the balcony of the arena. "Now we shall have dinner and you must rest well for tomorrow's event!"

Everyone went to the Feasting Hall for their dinner...

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Author's space: today 's topic is about the job class called Scouts. Scout is a job class who uses knives, axes, ropes and sometimes spears. They are skill in survival skills in the woods but they still do well in urban areas. Some scouts who have a radio license are allowed to use radio to comunicate. some scouts collect merit badges to learn other skills and rise up the ranks. T he highest a scout can go is to be a King Scout or some regions call it Eagle Scout. There are three types of scouts; Land Scout, Sea Scout and Air Scout.

Author's last words: wow! That was too much to type! I hope you like this chapter. I know there are a lot of grammar errors here. I'll be pleased and grateful for you all to point out these errors. I know I just started and there's bound to have mistakes. But anyway I feel happy finished typing this lot. Thanks for reviewing my last chapter. Your help is much needed here in this story.


	3. The Rest!

Author's first words: Yay! The second chapter of this story. Here it is enjoy!

Author's space: There's a job class that you may just learnt about in the last chapter but I'll explain it in more details. The job class is called Wushu. Wushu started from ancient Chimbian times from Chimba. It was a martial art of protecting oneself and a fighter's last tool when he has no weapons. It's very useful and has lots of benefits, it is said that with taichi (a branch from wushu) can cure asthma and wushu increases the mobility of a person (no wonder Way Peng can jump high and inflict fast attacks). Wushu involves fluid movement and speed. Wushu warriors can wield swords, spears and knuckles for some. The highest a wushu member can go is to be a Master of wushu.

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Chapter 3: The Rest!

Master Yao Zhong brought Dan to the Feasting Hall where all the other members are having dinner. "Today we are having boiled cabbage, stir fried Bak Choy and steamed tofu. You can take your plate of rice and food on the counter there" He pointed a counter with a wooden bucket of rice, with three trays of the described dishes. Dan took a plate and put his share on his plate. He brought the plate to Way Peng and the other disciples who taught him today.

"Hey Way Peng, Kah Chun, Kian Yee" Dan sat and ate with them.

"Hey Dan" Way Peng replied

"Hey Dan, don't call me like that. Just call me Yam" Kah Chun replied after Way Peng. Kian Yee ignored them ate his fill.

"You know, I couldn't help but noticing that you have a nice watch, and looks kinda familiar" Way Peng pointed to Dan's golden watch.

"Yeah! I think someone has this before but he left the temple. I think he was a prefect. By the name of Shi Xian" Kah Chun agreed.

"Yea, I'm a prefect but I'm not that active and powerful in that, but there was some trouble I had last year. Miss Chang, the prefect teacher took my powers because of that incident but I'm still a prefect. It's just that I don't do much as one. So this watch is just a reminder to not repeat that **dark** mistake I made" Dan replied and felt a bit melancholic after describing that dark chapter of his life without telling the whole thing.

"Sorry 'bout that, for opening your dark wounds. Anything you find difficult to understand in my teachings?" Yam tried to change the topic by asking Dan.

"Yea there was something a bit off when you used chi. I saw a strange symbol on you palm when you use chi. What is that symbol and why did it form?" Dan asked Yam.

"Oh you mean this?" he showed his palms as he focused chi on it." That's the Yin and Yang symbol. It's widely used in Chimbian culture. It's also a big part of wushu. It resembles a balance of good and evil. It also means balance in both sides. It plays an important role for the flow of chi. Any user of chi has a chi symbol, depending on our job class, a certain symbol will appear. Even you have one when you use chi"

"Come to think of it, I saw the scout symbol on my palm when I used chi. Do you think these are alchemic circles?" Asked Dan with curiosity.

"I'm not sure of that but it is plausible that chi can be considered as alchemic power since chi is energy" Yam replied.

"Hey Dan, you know, you have a nice bike, that Honda Shadow of yours" Way Peng compliment Dan's motorcycle.

Dan completely forgot about he left his motorcycle outside the temple unattended. "Oh ya! My bike! Where is it? How is it? Wouldn't the engine oil freeze in the cold conditions on this place?" Dan suddenly got worried about his beloved motorcycle.

"Don't worry, your bike is kept in our store, even mine is there. The storeroom is one the warmest place in this area and it is not affected our freezing temperature" Way Peng told Dan not to worry about it.

"Whew! Thank a million; I can't believe I forgot about my Honda Shadow for the whole day. A day is not complete without riding my bike"

"How about we go to the store and have a look at your bike." Way Peng brought Dan to the store where all of the temple's vehicles are kept.

"This is it! The store!" Way Peng told Dan once they reached. Way Peng opened the steel doors and hot air is felt once it was opened.

"The temperature's different here, it's much warmer" said Dan.

"Yep, this is to make sure our vehicles are in good condition and the cold weather won't spoil our vehicle. So you wanna see your beloved?" Way Peng teased Dan as he brought Dan in, Yam followed. Kian Yee was nowhere to be found probably still eating.

Two motorcycles stood near each other and it was covered by a canvas cloth. Way Peng pulled the cloth away. "There you go, your beloved bike". The cloth revealed Dan's Honda Shadow and a Yamaha RXZ, probably Way Peng's bike.

"Nice RXZ you have there, I like the blue on your bike and that lightning bolt on the fuel tank. Wouldn't a RXZ label you as a speed devil?" Dan complimented Way Peng's bike.

"Yea, but I grew up with this bike. I rode on this when I was 5. My dad used this and he handed me this as a gift. So I treasured it. Wanna ride down the forest trails?" Way Peng replied Dan.

"Yea sure, at least I can ride to make the day complete" said Dan.

Way Peng opened the shutter of the store and started his bike.

"BRRRAAAAMMMM! BRAMMMMMMMMMMM!" The motorcycle started once Way Peng kick started it. It made a lot of noise but it was bearable.

Dan took out his helmet from his box behind his bike, inserted and turned his key and pressed the starter of his motorcycle. "BRRMMMMMM!DUDUDUDUDUDU" The sound of Dan's Honda Shadow's engine purred as he started it.

"You know, you have a lot of stuff on your bike" Way Peng commented on the bags and the box on Dan's bike. "Wouldn't that weigh you down and why do you need so much storage?"

"Yea it does but I carry a lot of stuff on my long trips. I have a tent in one, a portable radio in the other bag, some provisions both food and medicine which include a first aid kit, some machetes and axes for survival in the woods and some rope for making a makeshift clothesline and a lot more"

"Ok! Let's go!"

"I'll just wait here for you," Yam said to the two.

"Hey Yam, how come you don't have a bike?" Dan asked him.

"My birthday hasn't passed, so I can't have a license" Yam replied. Dan was reminded that they are all just sixteen, just barely in the legal age to have a motorcycle license.

"Then we will be off then"

The two motorcycles rode out into the darkness. Yams just stand on the gate on the store to wait for their return.

Several minutes riding side by side on the snowy road, Way Peng suddenly stopped and Dan followed. "Hey Dan, how 'bout we race here? This path will bring us back to the store"

"I dunno… I don't like racing and my bike is not for racing... and it's not safe to race on the snow" Dan hesitated on Way Peng's dare.

"Oh well, give me your answer until you can catch me then" Way Peng sped off the trails." BRAAMMMM! BRRRRAAAAAAMMMMMMMMM!"The engine noise of Way Peng's RXZ became louder and longer as he changed gears while speeding off.

"Aaiiihhhh… Looks like I have to follow him then" Dan ride on with a higher speed he would normally ride.

Dan cruised along the trails with a few sharp turns, shifting gears accordingly. Suddenly, Dan heard a noise ahead of him, a noise as if something fell down.

"**Dan, I think there is something blocking his way, so proceed with caution"** a mysterious voice but familiar to Dan advised Dan. "Ok, I'll decrease my speed"

A while later that voice said something again. "**Dan, I sense a bump made of snow that probably caused the noise ahead, want me so send you "there"?"**

"Yea, you do that" Dan replied to the voice. Dan's motorcycle descended to the road as if there was a slope leading down the road. Danproceeded on without any worry in the **realm **not known to many.

"**I feel that we have passed that bump. I'll send you up now"**

Dan's bike rose up back to the surface of the road with snow. He saw Way Peng lying with his RXZ on the ground several yards away from the bump. Way Peng's right leg was bruised. Dan pulled him up and put him on Dan's motorcycle. He opened his first aid box and pulled out an anti bruise cream.

"Luckily my medicine didn't freeze, but you shouldn't race in the snow, it's slippery and there could be bumps like that one" Dan pointed the bump of snow which has been crashed by Way Peng while applying the medicine.

"OK, you'll be ok with that, just wait for fifteen minutes for it to heal. You can ride after that but not too fast" Dan finished applying the medicine on Way Peng's right leg.

Way Peng regretted on asking Dan to race. "I'm sorry for asking you to race, luckily it's just 200 meters from here to the store"

"It's okay, everyone wants some thrill in their lives every once in a while"

Once Way Peng has healed, they rode back to the store.

They reached back to the store. Yam was worried about the two. Both of them stopped their bike in the store. Yam closed the shutters.

"Are you alright? I heard a noise while you were going." Yam just noticed that Way Peng was bruised. Dan and Yam brought Way Peng to his room. "I'll tell the Master about this" Yam went out to call Master Yao Zhong.

Master Yao Zhong came into the room with some herbs and pulled it out from his big sleeved Chimbian robe. He put the herbs in hot water and stirred it. He then applied it on Way Peng's injured leg. "This will burn a bit but I know you can bear this". Way Peng endure the pain and heat of the herbs.

"Dan I think you should rest for now, I will take care of my disciple" the Master said to Dan.

Dan head back to his room. He prepared himself for sleep and placed his glasses on the same place he placed it last night.

"**Luckily you didn't go first, always go slow in the snow even if I can help you"**

"Yeah, you we're a great help today. If it wasn't for you, the same might have happen to me. Thanks" Dan replied to **the voice.**

* * *

**Author's space: **There's a nice topic for here today; The Yamaha RXZ. The RXZ is a semi common bike in the Land of the Symbian. Most of the time, Symbians own a RXZ. Some Chimbians have it too, but very few. The RXZ is a sport bike. It's normally used in street racing and whoever owns one will normally be labeled as a street racer. It is a two stroke engine which means it can accelerate very fast. The engine cc of this is normally 135. The noise is very loud especially when it accelerates.

Hey! The **Bold **voice guy is here again and he has more lines….*an **avatar** of a **shady** **guy** with a **question mark** is shown on **the screen*** **What**? Even this **guy** has an **avatar**? And Dan doesn't even have one and **he** has **one**? And this time** I (I **got **bold** too?) checked my computer to my **shop(shop?)** and** he(he?)** said there wasn't **a problem** in it! I think the problem lies within this **guy**! Can you guess what the **heck **is **he**? What kind of **person **deserves a **bold **letters for **his** speech? Wonder where did **he **take Dan? And why Dan feels **natural** talking to **him**? Email me **your answers** and we will give **a prize**! The **next Chapter!** With the **answers**!

**Author's last words:** Yay! I just finish the third chapter (I consider 2143 words as long, mind you). Now for my own reward! "sssssllllllurrrrrrp *Author sips his coffee with delightfulness* "AAAAAAaaaaahhhhhhhh!" Please tell me what you think of this chapter and thank you for reading. *Sits back and continues to sip his coffee.*


	4. Separations and Meetings

**Author's first words**: I would like to thank Dark Rook for being my beta reader and helping me to beta this chapter onwards.

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**Chapter four: Separations and Meetings**

Dan woke up to the sound of a gong sounded by a disciple. He got ready for his final day at the Chimbian temple. It would be an eventful day. Excited, but also slightly nervous, he walked to the main field to meet the Master.

"Today the test you are about to face will determine whether you are qualified to be a wushu disciple, the condition needed to acquire the martial arts badge you seek," the Master told Dan. "You must proceed to the Grand Arena for the test!"

Dan walked to the arena, opening the huge doors of the hall to reveal Way Peng, Yam, and Kian Yee standing at three points in a circle. Way Peng was wielding a Chimbian sword, similar to the one used yesterday. Kian Yee was wearing a pair of metal knuckles while Yam only had a pair of gloves which had the Yin and Yang symbol emblazoned on them.

"Dan, stand in the middle of this arena," the Master instructed." The rules of the test yesterday apply, but there are a few changes. The weapon can be chosen from this arena, but you begin with nothing. The changes are you have to defeat my three disciples by inflicting a strong blow on them. I shall judge this test."

"Way Peng, aren't you still injured?" Dan asked.

"I was treated with Chimbian herbs. The effects were quick and I feel better already." Way Peng did a somersault in place to prove he was fully recovered.

"I won't go easy on you today" Kian Yee said to Dan as he prepared his stance.

"Now the test begins!" Yam opened his palm. Light collected above it and the room became darker and darker until there was nothing but darkness. A ball of light appeared in his palm and he placed it in his pocket.

_Dang! How will I see in this place?_ Dan thought.

"**Prepare yourself! They're about to attack you simultaneously!"**The familiar voice instructed Dan.

A noise was heard and Dan imagined the trio closing in on all sides.

"Send me there now!" Dan went into the floor, entering the same **realm **he went yesterday. The trio ended up crashing into each other.

"**I'll send you near a weapon stack."**

Dan reappeared next to a weapon stack. He grabbed a sword from it.

_How will I know when they're about to attack? The only way to turn the tides of battle would be to steal Yam's light ball, _Dan thought.

"**Look, I can identify everyone in the dark. Yam is situated about ten feet away at a 30 degree angle to your right, and I can vaguely sense the other two nearby. Be careful!"**

Dan lunged in the said direction and swung his sword trying to hit the light wielder. It struck something and it flew to the wall. The ball of light fell out and broke. A burst of light came out from that direction. The light intensity was so great that it blinded Dan. Yam was considered eliminated.

Way Peng and Kian Yee knew this was their chance. Way Peng rushed to Dan, inflicting a strong blow. Dan's body went limp and flew to Kian Yee, where he was punched hard in his abdomen, sending him into a wall. Bloody and bruised, he crashed with an audible cracking sound.

Dan didn't care for his injuries. Getting up and running to Kian Yee, he swayed his sword. It was blocked by Yee's fists with every hit. Dan didn't realize that Way Peng was behind him ready to inflict another blow. He just managed to block that blow, but was hit by Kian Yee's fists. Once again, he smacked into the wall.

**_Shadow, _**_I need you to bring me there when I show a sign_, Dan thought to himself, hoping his strange guardian was still listening.

Dan rushed to Way Peng, who was near the middle, attacking him a flailing sword. Way Peng blocked it effortlessly. Just as Dan expected, Kian Yee was coming up behind him. Dan, using his free hand, grabbed onto the oncoming fist and twisted Kian Yee's arm, making him turn the other direction. Dan's sword was still in Way Peng's grip. While Dan was holding both of them, he focused his chi on himself, Kian Yee's fist, and Way Peng's death hold on the sword. Ice formed on said parts and it hardened, causing everyone to be immobilized in the ice. Dan nodded and he was sucked into his own **shadow**, leaving an ice shell of himself.

Dan reappeared next to Kian Yee. With his bare hands, he unleashed a flurry of attacks and did a roundhouse kick. The ice connecting Kian and Way Peng shattered.

Kian Yee slid across to the wall and vomited blood. Another elimination.

Way Peng took hold of the ice-encased swords and jerked them out. Dan went to a weapons stack to take another sword. The battle continued as the fighters exchanged attacks.

Way Peng blocked every attack with his two swords, forming an X shape with them. No matter how Dan attacked, he could not break his guard. Then, Way Peng attacked Dan in a quick blur. Dan's one sword was no match for two and eventually he got hit. His leg was bleeding; he knew he had to end this quickly.

Placing his left hand on his sword, he rushed to Way Peng. Pain shot through him every step he took. As usual, Way Peng blocked his attacks. With one last burst of energy, Dan focused on his chi. Ice latched nicely in the middle of the two swords. Slowly it spread down the blade and to Peng's hands. For the second time that day Peng was immobilized.

Dan let go of his sword and went into his shadow. He reappeared next to a weapon stack and took a spear. He threw it at the helpless Way Peng and it hit his left leg. Peng fell on his knees.

"You have passed the test!" the Master announced.

Dan collapsed on the ground, weary from exhaustion and blood loss. At this point he no longer cared about the results.

"Quickly, take these four to the Healing Centre" the Master commanded to the disciples beside him.

Half an hour later, Dan woke. He and the others were on beds, herbs on their wounds. Already he felt like he could walk normally.

A disciple ordered Dan to rest some more, but he couldn't. He waited for another half an hour. The Master came in.

"Ah, it looks like you're all healed up. Here's your badge and certificate."

"Thanks. Is it O.K. for me to walk now?"

"Yes, it is fine, but I have something I need to tell you. You must not use too much of your chi at one time. You just learned about it yesterday and already you're using too much of it. There are consequences when you use too much chi. Your body can only contain so much power; use chi too much and you may explode. Even the amount you used today can cause side effects. Did you feel any pain when you focused chi on your body?"

"Yeah… A bit."

"That was a small part of the side effects. That amount you used can destroy your body. You should think of your safety when you are in battle. Use chi sparingly until you learn to control it."

"O.K. Master, do you know why when I used chi in the middle of the arena it froze faster than it normally did? I felt a chill different than the kind I feel outside."

"Actually, there is a crystal there, but we place it under the floor when a battle occurs. Let me show you." The Master brought Dan to the Grand Arena.

A bright light blue crystal was shining in the middle of the arena. As they approached the crystal, the surrounding temperature grew colder.

"The crystal was here a long time ago, even before the temple was built. The elders discovered it had a vast amount of energy used to create this climate. At that time we wanted our disciples to train in the harshest environment possible. That's why we settled here."

"Oh, that makes sense."

Way Peng, Yam, and Kian Yee came over to them.

"Hey Dan, looks like this is farewell," Way Peng said as he shook hands with him.

"Dan, I'd like you to have this jacket," Yam presented Dan a jacket with two dragons, one red and one blue, emblazoned on the sleeves. "It will change its thickness depending on the temperature."

"Thanks, I like it." Dan shook Yam's hand.

Everyone followed Dan to the store. He started his bike and bode farewell to everyone.

"Thanks for everything and appreciate your teachings," Dan waved at them as he sped off back to his Scout Headquarters. The view of the temple slowly shrunk in the distance until it was nothing but a speck on the horizon.

As Dan was riding, **Shadow **interrupted him. **"Dan, I sense a presence nearby. I think she's in trouble."**

True enough, Dan saw a girl down a ledge being attacked by a pack of wolves. He noticed she was holding a drawing pad and a strange pen. Dan put on the brakes and switched the gears to neutral. He took a knife from his knife holster, tied a two-meter rope around it. Dashing to the girl, he threw the knife at the pack of wolves, but missed.

When he reached the girl, Dan grabbed onto her and crashed into a tree,but actually going into the **realm**. To the girl's confusion, she thought they were in the hollow interior of the tree.

"What are you doing? Running and pushing people into trees? How is that supposed to help me?"

"I should ask you the same question! You were drawing when a pack of wolves was about to attack you!" Dan pointed the drawing pad, noticing the drawing on it. "What? You were drawing a butterfly!"

"Just watch me!" she tore the paper from her drawing pad and threw it out of the hole of the tree, which was in actuality a portal to the **realm. **The paper turned into a medium sized butterfly that came to life. It began to attack the wolves by fluttering and swaying its wings.

"Ok, that was not what I had in mind…" said Dan, watching the butterfly defeat the wolf."But it's great."

"Then I think it's O.K. to come out." The girl walked out of the portal and Dan followed. To her astonishment, she saw the tree was untouched. There wasn't any crash marks on it. She ignored it and continued drawing another picture.

Dan drew out his knife and spun the rope. He released the rope and it hit a wolf, causing it to drop to the ground. Two wolves came at Dan's side and tried to attack him. The girl finished her drawing and a lion was formed from the paper, but unfortunately it was too small as it was only drawn on A3 size paper. The lion roared in a funny way that seemed to cause the wolves to attack the paper lion. Seeing this as an opportunity, Dan swung his knife towards the pack. Some of the wolves sustained injuries and still more were unhurt.

The remainder came to Dan's side and bit his arms. Dan was flailing his arms and running around in an attempt to shake off the wolves. The wolves came off, but Dan's arms were bleeding.

"You're gonna pay for that!" He took a swing at two of them. They bled crimson and collapsed.

A bigger wolf came after the girl. Dan threw his knife at it but it missed. Luckily, the butterfly came and whipped up a whirlwind, causing the wolf to lift off the ground.

"You! Hit it with your knife!" the girl instructed. Dan threw his knife, hitting its belly. The wolf died on the spot. Once the other wolves realized their leader was dead, they left the scene.

"You should be more careful with that knife of yours; it nearly cut me there."

"Yeah, yeah. But I need to do that to save you."

"I didn't ask you to play hero!"

"Well, you never said I couldn't!"

"GRR! Whatever!"

As Dan saw his wounds bleeding, he unwound the scarf from his neck and wrapped the wound on his right hand with it. Another equally deep wound was ignored.

"Aren't you gonna wrap your other wound?"

"I don't have another scarf. Anyway I'll let that heal naturally."

"I'll heal it," the girl grunted in irritation. She walked over to Dan and touched his left wound. Her hand glowed and his wound healed in just a few seconds. He felt a strange and an entirely new feeling when she touched him.

"Now open the other wound." Dan opened the reef knot on his scarf-bandage. She repeated the healing process.

"There. Is that natural enough for you?" she said sarcastically.

"What are you? And who are you? I've never seen around you before."

"Of course you've never seen me. I don't have a school, but I'm a Red Crescent Moon Society member. The name's Ann. You're a scout, I presume."

"Oh. I'm Dan. Yeah, I am a scout leader. So you don't have a school? If you die in battle, won't you be dead forever?"

"Yeah, but I survived a year without a school, so what is the problem?"

"But a wolf nearly bit you."

"So? I can heal myself. You're so dumb."

"Whatever. So where do you live?"

"I just wander around, dummy!" Ann teased. "I don't have a school, so why bother?"

"Ah," Dan sighed. "It's no use going social on you."

"But I see you have a nice watch, how much did it cost? I bet it's fake gold"

"I'm a prefect, so I have such a watch. But it doesn't do much."

"Does it tell the time?"

"Yes it does. Why I would be wearing it if it doesn't tell the time?"

"'Cuz you're dumb. What other features does it have?"

"GRR! It has a compass for your information," he opened the gold cover to reveal a compass needle and the clock hands.

"But… how come you can't be a prefect when you have a prefect's watch? Did you steal it?" Ann smirked.

"It's a long story… Just wait for a while I bring my motorcycle down here." Dan climbed up the ledge to reach his bike. He started it and let it slide down the ledge while hitting the brakes hard once he reached the base. He switched it off.

"Careful with that monster! You could've killed me with that."

"It won't hurt you."

"How should I know?" Ann asked sarcastically, "So you were saying how you got a prefect's watch…?"

"It happened a year ago….."

* * *

**Author's space:** Today's topic will be about the Red Crescent Moon, or in another name, the Red Cross. These are alchemic healers and they use magic to heal wounds. The red crescent moon symbol on their uniform serves as a alchemic circle to heal wounds. They don't have weapons but they are allowed to have an optional job class to join and use another weapon. Most of them learn magic and use it to defend themselves.

Hey, the **shadow **guy is back again. I think I heard his name was **Shadow**. Strange name for **a shadow. **But anyway, I'll reveal everything in the next chapter!

Author's last words: There you go; the fourth chapter. What do you think? Reviews and comments are appreciated.


	5. Dark Memories

**Author's first words: **This chapter may contain a bit of racism (and nuts, just kidding. But seriously) this is an important part of this story, so please read and respect its contents.

* * *

**Chapter five: Dark Memories**

"_Should I tell her the whole thing?" _Dan wondered to himself.

**"Just tell her, I feel I can trust her. On the other hand, I also have a bad feeling, but maybe it's just my imagination."**

"_Fine."_

"So it started like this…" Dan reluctantly began to tell the tale of his past.

Dan lived in a Symbian village. His father, a Symbian, and mother, a Chimbian, lived together happily. His parents were both doctors working in a general hospital.

He grew up in this village with his family, but his parents, especially his mother, were insulted and discriminated against. The villagers threw pebbles, rubbish, and even feces at them. They wrongly accused Dan's mother as a spy for the Chimbians during the racial war and his father as a traitor to his race. Dan hated this bigotry he experienced on a day-to-day basis.

One fateful day, while his family was strolling through the village streets, the villagers threw a stone at his father. The rock was heavy and sharp, hitting his temple. It ended up being the death of him.

The villagers didn't stop there. They continued to throw more stones at the mother and son. She shielded her child from the endless barrage of stones. Dan, a ten year old boy at that time, was terrified to see such inhumanity and violence from the people he had grown up with.

"Dan! I never wanted it to end like this," his mother said, her face flowing with blood. "Never be like them! Please, create a world where people are kind to each other. Where no one cares about race, religion or nationality."

She collapsed as a stone struck her forehead, dead.

Dan was left alone. The villagers took pity on him, growing tired of throwing stones.

He dragged both of his parent's corpses away and gave them a burial in his backyard of his home. Dan cried and mourned for a month, but he never received any sympathy from the villagers.

Luckily for Dan, he studied in a Chimbian school, where most the pupils never had that narrow-minded attitude. He continued his studies alone, without parental support. Strangely, he felt his parent's presence everywhere he went. He could hear whispers of encouragement, supporting every step he took. It had to be from them.

Dan joined the Scouts for his co-curricular activities. He liked the scout law which stated that a scout is a friend to all and a brother to all scouts, no matter what social class the other belongs.

Once he reached secondary school, he had to move out from the rotten Symbian village because the school was too far from the village. He liked it that way. He sold off his old house and used the money to rent a house in the Chimbian village. The money left by his parents was also enough to support him through his school life.

In secondary school, he slowly lost contact from his parents, but he proceeded on without that support. He made many friends there. Most of them were Chimbians, but there were some Symbians too.

Chimbians were the majority in this school. The Symbians, on the other hand, formed little friendships to the majority. They made their own circle of friends comprised of their own race.

Dan continued on with his studies and scouting. He was selected to be a prefect, an enforcer of discipline for the school. He did his job well, almost too well. He would report even the minor incidents to the disciplinary board. This created hatred towards him from the students. He did not really want to report them, but he was forced to by his duties.

Then, the students found out that Dan was a pervert. He would watch "those" videos. He actually did this a bit, but the victims of his reports exaggerated what he did. They reported Dan touched his "thingy" in public, but to him it was just an itch on his "thing". Then they spread rumors of him doing the worst to others.

"Did you hear? Dan is a pervert. He would do it anywhere, even in public!" a student once whispered to another.

"Yeah, I heard he's half Symbian and you know that some of them are, well, you know. I think he might rape someone in camp!"

"I think it's better not to join the Scouts."

"Lucky I'm not a member!"

This incident made him even more upset. He became an island again, except now in the Chimbian village. No one ever wanted to go near him. His neighbors moved out and the landlord tried to evict him. But eventually, the landlord took pity on him and let him stay.

Only a small group of friends continue to associate with him. Most of them were the scout members and boys he had befriended before that incident.

The news spread to the prefect teacher, Miss Chang, a fearsome lady.

"What? I can't believe that you would do such a…" she was so angry that she was at a loss for words. "You have given a bad name to the school prefects!" she said as she hit Dan's watch with her rattan cane. She had given it to him on the day he and his compatriots were selected. Some of the components of the watch flew apart at the blow. The function for prefects in the watch was disabled, but the compass built in it still worked.

Filled with sorrow, he biked to a forest nearby the village. Unfortunately, his bicycle tripped on tree roots and Dan was thrown off to an unknown place in the forest. It started to rain while Dan cried out in hopelessness. He wept, completely and utterly lost.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared right in front of him.

"**Quick! You have to help! Form a pact with me, I need it to survive!"**

"Who are you? You don't look familiar. And why should I form a pact with you, anyway? Just get lost!"

"**What's the matter? I feel that you have some sort of a problem. Are you lost?"**

"What's it to you? Can you help me get outta here?"

"**Well…er, yes. I can help you. Just form a pact with me. Hurry! I'm gonna vanish and die soon!"**

"Fine! Just get me outta here!"

"**Yes! Nice meeting ya," **the **shadow **extended his hand to Dan. He grabbed it.

It pulled him into a strange **world** shrouded in complete darkness. Dan felt blinded.

"**Welcome to the phantom's realm! And since you have formed a pact with me, I can continue to live now!"**

Dan fell from the portal that was opened by the **shadow**, introducing him to the new world**. **He didn't know what was going on, freezing in place as his eyes lit upon fantastical sights. There were shadows walking the world like humans, odd shadow plants resembling cacti, and creatures slithering about with shadowy bodies. There was absolutely no light, making Dan wonder how he could see what was before him.

Suddenly a voice began to speak from out of nowhere:

"**So, my shadow, I see you've formed a pact already. I grant you an extended life here and in the human world. And you, host, please take care of yourself. Your death means his death. Shadow will guide you well and help you whenever he can.**

A dark glow joined Dan and **Shadow **together.

"Why am I here? I thought you were supposed to get me home!"

**"Well ya see, you've formed a pact with me. It had to be witnessed by the Grand Shadow of this world. Now that it's done, I can live longer. I needed to form a pact with someone in order to survive here, so I was given some time in your world to find one. Without a pact, I'll vanish and die. Since I found you, you were the one."**

"Can you bring me out now?"

**"Sure." **He led Dan on a walk through **shadow **realm. After walking for a few miles, **Shadow **spoke. "**Okay, here we are."**

**Shadow **opened a portal and brought Dan out of the realm. Dan realized that he was in his house.

He considered leaving it.

"**Nice house you got here."**

"Yeah, but unpleasant stuff has happened here over the past few days. It's probably the fengshui. Maybe I should stay somewhere else."

"**Come on, it's just something small. It won't kill you."**

"Thanks, **Shadow**."

**"Thank ****_you_**** for letting me live."**

After the encounter with Shadow, Dan continued to experience unkind treatment from the students, and even some from a certain circle of teachers. It was always Shadow that encouraged him to continue on. In the end, he became the scout leader of his school after gaining the scout teacher Miss Mek Ketong's trust.

Dan began to stay in the Scout Headquarters, assuming the role of the leader.

The other scouts accepted him as leader, but some of the younger members made fun of him sometimes. He would punish them whenever that happened.

Vee Xiang, Hsein Loong, Tisha, Xiyin and Hsien Phing were his right hand helpers. They would support him even in the worst of situations. Ever since the beginning, they had been on his side.

Dan recalled rising up through the ranks together with them, each gradually becoming a leader or elite member. With his compass watch as a reminder to himself to never repeat his old mistakes and **Shadow **giving him a helping hand, he strived to be the best scout he could be…

"So that's my story," Dan finished.

"Oh, so sad… What about the time you pushed me into that tree?" Ann pointed over to the said tree.

"Actually, that was the **shadow realm **we went in. For your information, most live trees are not hollow and will have a mark if something went through it."

"Oooh, now I get it. I thought you were a tree pushing maniac."

"Heh… So how come you don't have a school?"

"Since you told me your past, I guess I'll tell you mine..."

* * *

**Author's space: **Yes, I know, this chapter is not as long as the last one, but I did my best…

?: Your best?

Author: What! Who goes there?

*Dan and Ann come up through floor*

Dan: Hey big guy, we're here to make fun of you!

Ann: Yeah! *draws a lion, bringing it to life*

Author: No, not the lion! Anything but that!

*Lion attacks author's computer*

Author: Nooo! My computer! Don't you know that you were created there?

Dan: I thought we were created from your draft book!

Author: Oh, right…

Ann: I found your draft book! Now I can make myself invincible!

Dan: I think I want to change this space. I mean, an author's space? What the heck is that? You already have so much space in your world. Do you really need more?

Author: But you were created in this space.

Ann: Who cares, we're alive now. Bye!

*Dan and Ann escape into their own shadow*

Author: I thought Ann couldn't do that!

Ann: Well, now I can! With your draft book!

Author: Oh well…

**Author's last words: **There you have it, the answers to the mystery of the shadow! Next up: the secrets behind Ann.

From now onward (and from before too), all dialogue from the shadow will be written in **bold.**

Actually I almost cried when I wrote this… Luckily, they didn't know *winks* Hey, wait a minute! I can't wink in real life! Too bad...


	6. Darks and stuff

**Author's space: **Whew! Those two haven't taken this secret space on top of every chapter. Looks like I'm safe here. Anyway, I seemed to have no mood to write another sad story (couldn't seem to think of a good one), but with my Phoenix Wright (I like their court and crime related games) set of sad, reminiscing, songs in my computer I can write again!

* * *

**Darks and Stuff**

"So it started when I was twelve…." Ann started.

At age twelve, Ann had gone for a holiday to a faraway place during her school break. She went on a cruise with her mother. The S.S. Endeavor, a magnificent ship that could hold up to a thousand people, was to set sail around Ivalice and back to the Symbian land.

While Ann was walking around and exploring the elegant ship, she lost her way. The unending rows of cabins seemed like a maze to the twelve year old. She could remember the room number but she didn't know where it was.

"How am I going to go back to my room? It's almost dinnertime, Mom will be angry," Ann hopelessly sat on the stairs in the grand hall of the ship.

While she was sitting, a dark-skinned sixteen year old boy came up to her.

"Hey little girl, you seem lost." His **shadow **quivered as he greeted her.

"Yea, I'm lost, I can't find my room."

"Do you know what room number you're staying at?"

"It's 684."

"O.K. then, I'll bring you there," He offered his hand to her, she reluctantly took it.

He brought Ann to her room. While holding hands with him, she felt a tingling sensation within her. She wondered, does he feel the same feeling?

"Thanks for bringing me back to my room," Ann blushed while thanking him.

"Hey, I'm Franco, what's your name?"

"I'm Ann, pleasure to meet you."

"How 'bout if I take you around tomorrow? Just in case you get lost again..." he teased.

"I'll ask my mom first, I'll tell you the answer during breakfast."

The next morning, in the dining hall, Ann tried to find him. She eventually saw him on the table at the corner of the huge hall. She called out to him.

"Hey, Franco, My mom said yes! We can hang out for the whole day!"

"That's great! How 'bout we go around exploring the ship together!"

They ate breakfast and went on to explore the interior of the grand ship. They visited the ship's multiple lounges, halls, and everywhere else. They ventured to the deck of the ship. The view of the sea was magnificent. The blue waters, seagulls hovering over the ship, and dolphins swimming nearby were captivating.

"Let's go to the bow!" Franco called out, so she followed him to the bow. There was a bird-shaped figurehead pointing out toward the direction the ship was advancing. The sea bashed against the hull.

"O.K. Ann, how about you stand on the bow and stretch out your arms there. You can feel the breeze," Ann did as instructed. She felt a strong wind slid across her arms and ruffle her long hair.

Franco slid his hands around Ann's waist. "You know, you're the first person I've ever respected to befriended," he whispered. She ignored what he said, merely cherishing the moment. Strangely, his **shadow **moved in a strange manner as he hugged her.

* * *

"ACK!" Dan yelped in sudden pain, clutching his chest after hearing the most recent part of what Ann said.

"What's wrong with you? Got a heart attack after hearing that? I haven't even finished yet," Ann scolded, healing his pain. Dan felt uneasy when he heard this, but didn't bother to ask himself why.

* * *

After standing at the bow for some time, Franco and Ann decided to get off and chat for a while.

"So I'm your first friend? What do you mean? You don't have any friends back in your home country?"

"Yea, I wasn't accepted by people there, they seem to hate me because I was different."

"Oh, poor thing…"

"But I got you!" he teased as she giggled happily.

"Looks like night is approaching, I have to go back and see my mom."

"O.K., I'll bring you back then," the dark-skinned boy escorted her to her room.

"Attention all passengers, the ship will arrive in the Symbian land by tomorrow. Passengers seeking to depart there should please do so at that time."

"Oh no! I forgot I'm leaving the ship tomorrow. Looks like I can't hang out with you."

"Never mind, we'll see each other again sometime. Just meet me tomorrow before you leave"

The next morning, Ann came looking for Franco. He was at his usual spot eating breakfast.

"Franco! I've been looking for you!"

"Hey Ann, it looks like it's goodbye, but here, take this," He gave her a card which had a contact number and email address written on it.

"Bye Franco…." She bid farewell while sniffling as if she was going to cry. She walked away with her mother out to the dock, noticing Franco waving at her as she arrived at the pier. All she could do was wave back.

Weeks later, she was contacting Franco every day through email and he even called once in a while. Even when school started she would continue to chat with him after school.

She was an active member of the Red Crescent Moon Society, but she wasn't a leader or anything. At home, she would draw him every now and then. She loved painting, especially when painting portraits of people. Franco appeared in her drawings often.

But unfortunately, her father found out about Franco. He disapproved of her relationship with him even though they just contacted each other through instant messaging. Her father would scold and ground her for using the computer to contact Franco, even burning all the portraits of the guy, though they were good pieces of art.

She was devastated. She put a lot of effort in them, effort now gone to waste.

Sad and weary, she no longer wanted to talk to anyone, going as far as to avoid her friends. Her friends from the Chimbian school she attended avoided her because of her negative aura.

"Don't talk to her. She doesn't have a life, always looking so down and like she has problems…" a student whispered to another in front of her.

"Yeah, I think she lost a guy because of her dad"

"What? That's all? That's her idea of the end of the world? Come on, there's lots of great guys out there!"

"Let's just get away from her."

"Yeah."

She decided to switch to a Symbian school, but the same thing happened and it was worse. The Symbian would discriminate against her for being different and not from the same race.

Getting sick of all the problems she had, she decided to run away from home since nobody wanted her to associate with her anymore. She ran into the nearby forest only bringing her stationary and sketch pad.

She survived in the forest by eating what the forest provided for her. Ann stayed in a cave, making friends with the forest animals. Whenever she got hurt, she healed herself using what she have learned from the Red Crescent Moon Society. She wandered the land, knowing that she would die permanently in battle without the protection of a school.

She would draw Franco when she was free, which was most of the time.

After a year of staying there, she decided to come back and revisit her old house. To her horror, she found out that it was abandoned. Her parents were nowhere to be seen. An old newspaper dated eleven months ago reported that her parents were searching for her and they used all their money to fund it. They had mortgaged their house. She later found out that they died from owing a large amount of money to illegal lenders, whose customary practice was to torture anyone who couldn't pay them back.

She ran back to the forest crying that she had brought about her parent's demise. She drew happy memories she had with them. Then, suddenly, a voice from out of nowhere began to speak:

"Ann, we know you have gone through so much grief. We, the spirits of the forest, feel your pain and we want to give you something to cheer you up."

A light shone on her stationary and sketch pad. She was so angry that she was reminded of her past that she tore her art work from her drawing pad. Miraculously it all came to life. For that moment all of her happy memories lived again. She embraced her family and her guy, but it disappeared after a few minutes.

With her newfound ability she continued on her misadventure. After wandering for some time, she met Dan.

* * *

"And that's how it happened…" Dan hugged her after she finished, but feeling awkward she pushed him away.

Ann thwacked him on the head. "What was that for?"

"I did that to comfort you!"

"Well you don't have to!" Deep inside though, Ann realized she appreciated the gesture.

"Oh well, it's getting dark, looks like we gonna set camp here. You staying with me or are you going to find a cave?"

"Err.. Actually I'm having trouble to find one."

"Looks like we're staying together in the same tent then."

"Can't you get another?"

"I only have one," Dan pulled a thick, rolled nylon tent out of his carrier of his motorcycle. He unrolled the tent revealing some unattached sticks to be used as poles and some pickets with ropes attached to each of them. The scout attached the stick to make it into two poles to support the tent and then put them in into the holes with one pole in each, finally tying the rope on the pickets to the poles.

Dan made sure the tent entrance was facing west so the west wind could flow into the tent to provide some breeze. He used a hammer from the tent kit to hammer a picket into the ground, firmly making sure the rope was touting. Dan told Ann to do the same on the other end. They used the other pickets to secure the tent on the ground.

"Now to start a fire. Ann, can you collect some firewood while I get the oil?"

After half an hour, Ann came back with some firewood. Dan was waiting.

"That's not going to last the whole night, we need more."

"Fine, you go then. I need to take a bath. I saw a lake nearby." She pointed vaguely in one direction.

Dan hesitantly went out to get more firewood, but he was tempted to watch her bathing. He took a side trip to the lake and hid in the bushes. Unfortunately for him, the rustling bushes caught her attention.

"I knew you were watching, you perverted scout!" she screamed. "Go and attack him!"

An eagle was summoned and swooped towards the bush Dan was hiding in.

_Dang! She is smart._

"**Why didn't you ask for my help? Hai…" Shadow **sighed. **"What's with you and naked girls…" Shadow **brought Dan out of the bushes and sent him back to collecting firewood.

"Thanks for that; maybe I should just do my work."

"**You should," Shadow** mumbled and Dan began to collect firewood. While picking up wood, he found some mushrooms. Dinner for two, he realized. He picked some, making sure they weren't Death Angels or some other poisonous fungus.

Dan came back with enough firewood for the whole night. Ann was waiting impatiently, furious about the incident that happened awhile back.

"What were you doing in the bushes?"

"Collecting firewood…"

"Liar!"

"O.K., so I was watching…"

"Ha! Now you're admitting it!"

"O.K fine, I'm sorry."

"Sorry! That's not enough. You won't be eating tonight!" Dan quickly hid some mushrooms in his pocket after hearing this.

"Here, I found some mushrooms while I was collecting firewood."

"Then I'll take it all!" she took all of the mushrooms in his hand, unaware of his secret stash.

Dan piled up some firewood and poured some oil on the heap. He reluctantly started the fire with his lighter.

"I thought scouts used their bow and drill to start fires."

"Scouts go modern sometimes, but I have a flint and saw just in case."

"You have so many things on yourself. What else do you drag around?"

"I have a radio on my motorcycle."

"What do you need that for?"

"Communication. I need to contact the scout headquarters every once in a while when I'm away. Speaking of which, I need to do that now. Any later and none of my staff will be left." It was nearly half an hour past the time most of the students would be home. "Since I can't eat, you can cook for yourself."

"Fine!" Ann drew a wok from her sketch pad and tore it out. She withdrew some uncooked rice from her pack and started cooking.

Dan walked to his bike and opened his box HAM radio, contained in one of the carriers of his bike. He extended the antenna, also on his bike, to increase his range. He switched it on and tuned the dial to the headquarters frequency which was 146.028MHz. He then checked the signal strength; it was good enough to talk. He pressed the Push-To-Talk (PTT from now onwards) once to make his presence known to the other side and waited for a reply. The other end responded in kind. He pressed it again and began communicating.

"This is 9-Whisky-2-Delta-Alpha-November, 9-Whisky-2-Delta-Alpha-November. Dan speaking. Who am I talking to? Over," he released the PTT button.

"This is 9-Whisky-2-Tango-India-Sierra, 9-Whisky-2-Tango-India-Sierra. I'm Tisha, Dan. So how's the training? Got your precious badge? Over."

"Yeah, finished everything. I found someone in the woods, she doesn't have a school. Maybe I'll take her in. Now we're setting camp here. Over."

"So, where's your location? Over."

"Maybe about sixty kilometers from headquarters. How's the headquarters? Over."

"There's a small problem here. Be sure to come back quickly to give us a hand. Over," Dan understood the problem was too complicated for Tisha to explain over the radio.

"O.K., I'll start my journey right after dawn. This is 9-Whisky-2-Delta-Alpha-November. Over and out."

"Roger that, will tell the others about your condition. I'm going home now anyway. 9-Whisky-2-Tango-India-Sierra, over and out." Dan switched the radio off after hearing the last message. He checked the battery; it was still enough for a few more communication sessions. Dan decided to check back in on Ann.

Ann was cooking her meal, by this time nearly finished. The aroma of the mushrooms and herbs made Dan's stomach growl.

_I wish I could enjoy her cooking_

"**All you have now are roasted mushrooms."**

_I'll cook them while she's eating_

After Ann finished cooking, she transferred her food into a bowl, probably drawn up from her sketchpad. It was fried rice with mushrooms. She took her bowl into the tent and gorged on it all by herself.

Sneakily, Dan took out his mushrooms from his pocket and poked a stick into them. There were ten mushrooms, just enough for him to fend off hunger. He roasted the mushrooms over the fire, placing more wood to keep the flames going. The fire crackled as the wood was devoured.

It was twilight by the time the mushrooms were cooked.

"Ah, now it's my turn to eat!"

"**Careful, Dan. She just finished her meal."**

Ann came out of the tent with what Dan assumed was an empty bowl. She spotted Dan cooking.

"AHA! I knew it! You kept a secret stash did you?"

"Yes Ma'am," Dan cowered with his mushrooms.

"Never mind, here you go," she handed a bowl of her fried rice to Dan. "Eat it with your burnt mushrooms."

"Whew! You have a nice figure you know, Ann," Dan replied as she handed over the bowl.

Ann blushed when Dan said that but replied angrily. "You take that back or you won't be eating that rice."

Dan smirked, adding his roasted mushrooms into her bowl. He began to eat. The taste was tantalizing; Dan hadn't tasted cooking this great since his parents' death.

"You know, you make a very good cook."

"Just shush and finish your food. And clean my bowl, too!"

"But it will disappear anyway," Ann kept quiet after Dan said that. Dan waited for the bowl to disappear. It didn't.

"You're so dumb, that's a real bowl. Y'see under the bowl, there's a mark on it!" she pointed it out to him. "This mark is the proof of my mom and dad's wedding, they drank with this on their wedding day and now they're…"

"O.K., O.K. I'll wash it. Just don't go ranting about your past again. We've had enough of that today."

Dan headed off to the lake to wash the utensils.

A few minutes later he returned. "There you go, all done."

"Gee, thanks. You're the first person to bother washing my dishes since I left home."

"Nevermind, I live alone. I know how you feel."

"So where are you gonna sleep? Outside?"

"Yeah, maybe. You can sleep in my tent." Dan took out his toothbrush and metal cup. Ann followed suit.

They walked to the lake once again to brush off their teeth, returning to the campsite together.

"How 'bout sleeping in your tent?"

"Then where will you…?"

"We'll sleep together. It's your tent anyway."

So the two of the slept under the nylon tent they made together earlier that day.

"Dan, you know, you're first guy who's really spoken to me since that day…" Ann said softly.

"SNORE….."

"Hrmmm…."

* * *

**Dan and Ann's space:**

Dan: Yes! We captured the author's space!*Plants a flag with the words "Dan and Ann" on it*.

Ann: Yay! We did it!

Dan: Do you readers want to know where the author is?

Readers: Yeah?

Ann: Oh, you don't wanna know!

Readers: (now curiously) Oh?

Dan: He's in the back there, in a cage!

Ann: Now this is our space! Hey Dan, did you know there were tons of appearances of the word "together" in the end?

Dan: Yeah, I saw that. Did you know, together is a word made of "to-get-her"?

Ann: Eww, that's gross!

**Author's last words:** Yay, finished this chapter at last! Today I'm going to talk about HAM radio! HAM radio is a useful tool in scouts, but it can be used by anyone. All you need is a license and a ham radio, of course. Once you have a license you will be issued a call sign, just like Dan used 9-Whisky-2-Delta-Alpha-November as his call sign. The call sign must be spelled out using the international phonetic (you can look this up for more info) while talking via radio. Dan's call sign is 9W2DAN but it is spelled as 9-Whisky-2-Delta-Alpha-November in radio. HAM radio can be used to communicate with other radio users. Scouts have a badge for this. To operate one, you have to follow these steps

Make sure you're on a frequency with someone else actually on it. To do so, listen whether is there anyone on the same frequency and is there anyone communicating on the said frequency. If there is no conversation, you can proceed by pressing the PTT button for 2 seconds and wait for a reply. You will hear a different tone when someone is pressing the PTT button when a different tone is heard. You can also proceed the next step without doing pressing the PTT for 2 seconds.

State your call sign and name. Wait for the other to reply with their call sign and name. Remember to end your message with "over".

Now you can start talking! Just end each message with "over". Keep messages short, accurate and simple so that the other side can understand you easily.

When you are finished, just end your message with "over and out".

A good example is when Dan talked to Tisha using his HAM Radio (though the message was a bit long, not recommended for amateurs).

Dan: Did say my name, author? *Dan comes out of nowhere*

Author: I was just introducing the usage of HAM radio to the readers.

Dan: Shut up and get back in your cage!

*Author whines*


	7. Homecoming

Author's space: Sorry for the late update, school started in January and this year I have a big exam coming up at the end of the year. But I'll update every 2-4 months.

In this chapter and the coming chapters, there will be more reference from FFTA2 as this part of the story will begin the real now?

As you all noticed, this chapter is longer than any other chapters. Why? I wanted to introduce clan system a bit more earlier so that I can get quest ideas and any suggestions. All I need is-*Whistling sound*

Did you hear anything like a whistle? Like an incoming bomb? Or cannonball?

BOOM*A cannonball from out of nowhere came down the roof, causing a big crater in the author's writing space*BOOM

* * *

"**Dan, Dan! Wake up!" Shadow **called out. It was the middle of the night.

"What is it? Why wake me up at a time like this?"

"**I need to tell you something. It's about Ann."**

"Yeah, what do you wanna say?"

"**I sense that she has great potential. She is good at drawing and uses her creations to attack enemies. It's a useful ability. She can practically draw out anything from her sketchpad. "**

"Yeah, so?"

"**It's just a comment. Anyway, this Franco guy she speaks of…. I feel that there's something off about him, something strange…."**

"Stop saying that name. I get heartaches just hearing it!"

"**That's half the point, heartache part aside. I know how you feel for her."**

" I don't –"

**Shadow** cut him off. "**I'll be frank. I think Franco has something. Something powerful…"**

"Whatever, I don't care for him."

"**Fine then, I'll let you go to sleep now…"**

Dan slept until the following morning.

* * *

"Aaaahh, I haven't slept so well in ages!" Ann yawned, stretching her arms. "Wake up sleepyhead!"

"Wha– ? Morning already?" Dan groaned. He rubbed his eyes, vaguely noticing a thin curve of light above the mountains.

"Just get up already!"

"O.K., O.K., I'm up!"

"Now get yourself clean! You smell bad!"

Dan groggily stumbled to the lake. With only his boxers on, he jumped in.

"Brr." He slowly swam in the water, eventually getting used to the cold. He didn't mind the low temperature; he actually kind of liked it. The morning mist veiled his surroundings, making it impossible to see the other side of the lake.

"**It's hard to see anything in a place like this."**

"Who cares, just enjoy the water. Oh wait, you can't. Too bad." Dan continued to breaststroke as he cleaned himself off.

"**For your information, I ****_can_**** swim, but it's too cold here. Just being in the lake makes me shiver!" Shadow was looking a bit fuzzy down at the bottom of the lake.**

"Alright. I'm about to finish my bath anyway." Dan crawled out of the water and dried himself off with a towel, putting on the same uniform he had worn yesterday. He walked back to the campsite with the towel slung over his shoulder.

"So what's the plan for today? Stay here for the rest of our lives?" Ann asked.

"No, I plan to go back to my headquarters after breakfast. What is for breakfast anyway?"

"Do you think I'm your mother or something? I have no food for you."

"I'll have my rations then." Dan put the towel in his bike's clothes carrier and hesitantly took out some biscuits from his rations. He ate a few.

"Here, you want some?"

"Sure. I have nothing else to eat." Ann smiled.

_So that's the reason she scolded me about breakfast._

After breakfast, they packed up the tent and stored it in the tent carrier of Dan's bike.

"So where are you going next?" Dan asked.

"I'm not sure…"

"Are you gonna continue your misadventure?"

"No. I got bored with it."

"Then why don't you follow me back to headquarters?"

"O.K, fine. I have nothing else to do."

Dan looked around to make sure he had packed everything. Once that was done with, he retrieved his helmet from the box at the back of his bike and started the engine.

"Do you have a helmet? You don't want to get caught by the police or prefects."

"Err… no. But I can draw one." Ann drew an open face helmet on her sketchpad. It was similar to Dan's own, the only difference being it was white instead of blue. She tore the drawing out to make it real, folding her long hair to fit it beneath the helmet.

"We're all set." Ann climbed onto his motorcycle, but the four carriers made it hard for her to position her legs.

"You have too many things on your bike. I think you should get rid of these," she said, pointing out the boxes on the side of Dan's bike.

"They aren't things; they're carriers. I need them."

"Why? What do you put in them?"

"I have one to carry my radio, one to hold my tent, one for clothing and rations, and one for weapons and ropes."

"I don't think you need to bring all that."

"Well, you see, I used nearly all of it during the past two days."

"Ugh, fine then. At least I found some space for my legs," the girl said, squeezing her legs between the carriers.

"Then off we go! Hold on tight." Dan felt Ann tighten her grip on his shoulder a second later. He switched his gears from neutral to first, riding up the ledge they had come down yesterday. The road flashed beneath them; the motorcycle jolted every now and then due to the uneven terrain.

The wind blew against the two riders as they rushed down the mountain. Trees lined the side of the road, causing fallen leaves to scatter in the motorcycle's wake. Gradually, the scenery began to change.

Forests started thinning after a few kilometers. Houses began to appear more frequently and soon they arrived in a city. The streets were bordered with five-story buildings, shops, and street-side cafes with tables and chairs scattered on the sidewalk. Patrons occupied tables, drinking coffee or eating lunch under the shade of an umbrella. School students walked in groups, window-shopping as they headed home.

Cars bustled about on the street, sometimes not moving for minutes due to traffic lights. Dan tried his best not to hit any of the cars, but eventually his side mirror scraped another vehicle's side mirror.

"Dang! My mirror! I just polished it a week ago." Dan touched the slight scratch mark on the metallic back of the mirror.

"I think you should use a lighter motorcycle. They're thinner; you pass the traffic easily with them."

"I have one, but I use this one for long journeys. It has a better fuel capacity and holds more stuff."

"Whatever… At least I gave you my advice."

Dan spotted the school a few minutes later. It consisted of a few tall buildings, some decorated differently than the others.

They arrived at the school gate, guarded by a security guard as usual. Normally, the guy let anyone into the school as long as they didn't cause trouble. But today was different. Dan noticed the person in the guardhouse looked unfamiliar, almost lizard-like. He proceeded on until he reached the guardhouse and waved to the guard.

"You look different today. Are you new here?"

"Yesss. I'm Rubay, a bangaa. I come from Ivalice, but I'm now working here as a guard. They sssay the pay here isss higher." The bangaa replied. The bangaa had scaly skin and a long mouth with a split tongue. Some facial hair could be seen on his ears, rather odd for a scaly creature.

"Hmmmm…" Dan looked at the new guard in wonderment. "I don't know about that, you look like a lizard to me."

"Don't call me that! We bangaasss hate being called lizardsss. We're much bigger and stronger than those mindlesss creaturesss"

"O.K., I'm sorry."

"You sssay that one more time and I won't let you in ever again," the bangaa mashed the button to open the gate, all the while shaking his fist in anger.

"That was a strange guy," Dan commented once they had passed the gate.

"They're bangaas, a race from Ivalice. It's strange to see them here. It's quite costly to come here by airship and it's risky to come by boat unless it's well-built. Still, we have to accept him. He's new here."

The two rode up a path to the scout's headquarters, passing the headquarters of the other clubs and societies. The headquarters of the Chimbian orchestra, the most outstanding one in the school, had a tree with pink petals out front as decoration. Some of the others were also decorated according to their insignia.

After a few minutes, they reached the scout headquarters. To one side of the building, there was a dense strand of trees suitable for camping or forest creatures to dwell in. On the other side a small hangar and runway for planes was situated. Lastly, a dock was located around back where river boats were moored. The building itself was four stories high and decorated with the scout's fleur-de-lis insignia. A communication tower was near one of its walls. Dan drove up to the headquarters and parked in a reserved space.

"This is it! My headquarters!"

"That took too long!" Ann scowled.

"At least we got here safely." Dan placed his helmet in the back carrier of his bike; Ann's helmet disappeared into thin air. The scout took out his towel. They walked towards the doors of the scout headquarters.

"Hey everybody, I'm back!" Dan announced. Just as he finished his sentence, a book flew through the air and hit him in the face.

"Is that the customary way to greet a troop leader?"Ann asked.

"LOOK AT IT! All our expenses are making us bankrupt!" A Nidian girl wearing a grey scout uniform, the same as Dan's, was at the counter fuming.

"Relax, Tisha. All problems can be solved."

_So this was the "small" problem she mentioned yesterday._

"Just check the book!"

"OK fine..." Dan started to flip through the pages of the Scout's ledger. "Well, to be honest… I don't even know what all this is."

"Oh, right, you know nothing about accounts. It shows we spend more than we actually make." Tisha pointed out that the credit side of the ledger was larger than the debit side. "We didn't earn anything this month, but we still pay the training for your precious badges. That also includes you!" She pointed her finger at another two boys, the troop leaders of the air and sea units. They had already been scolded by her yesterday, so they just ignored the angry girl.

"Yeah, we haven't done much for the past few months… heheh…"

"I knew it, you are too lazy to work!" Ann exclaimed.

"So, this is the girl you were talking about. It's about time you had one… heheh." Tisha smirked at Dan.

"Ann, please entertain her while I find a solution to the debt problem," Dan whispered.

Tisha looked at Ann. "So, what's your name?"

Dan interrupted. "O.K., you guys get to know each other while I go to my desk. Get Xiang, Loong, Phing, and Yin over here as well."

Tisha called over her other colleagues to meet Dan's new friend. All of them surrounded Ann while Dan headed to his desk and sat down in a chair beside it.

_What can I do to solve this? It's not like we earn much money in the first place…_

"**You shouldn't use more than what you earn, save some for rainy days."**

"But I love rainy days!"

"**Not the rainy days with rain! The days when you really need the money! Anyway, I think you should check today's newspaper, you might find a suitable job for the scouts."**

"What can we find there? I don't want to end up as janitor or something."

"**Just give it a shot!"**

Dan picked up the newspaper on his desk. Most of it was untouched, but the entertainment segment was missing. Tisha and the other girls had probably taken it. He flipped through the pages, observing headlines such as "Man Crashes into Gas Station after Refueling" and "Government Wants Unity."

"What is there to find?"

"**Just keep searching."**

Dan continued to flip the pages until he saw an advertisement.

_"Enter an Enticing World of Epic Adventure and Danger._

_Have you ever dreamed of something more than the humdrum of everyday life? _

_With magic, swords, and_ _technology, the clan system of Ivalice welcomes new adventurers and seasoned veterans alike to take up arms beside their friends_ _in quests to restore peace to the land._

_Now is your chance to heed the call and create your own clan!_

_Registrations are Available Tomorrow in School Canteens Nationwide._

_Pay Varies Depending on Quest."_

_This might work._

"Hey, everyone! I think I have the solution to our bankruptcy problem! Take a look at this." The scouts who had been talking to Ann swarmed to Dan's desk, in particular Vee Xiang, Hsein Loong, Xiyin, Hsein Phing, and Tisha.

"So what's the plan?" Vee Xiang asked. He was a Chimbian boy with spiky hair wearing the light blue Air Scout uniform. He's the troop leader for the air scouts.

"Yeah, what can we do?" Xiyin, a 16 year-old girl wearing a white sea scout uniform, pitched in.

"Look." Dan showed them the advertisement. There was silence for a few minutes as they studied it.

Eventually, the Sea Scout troop leader, Hsein Loong, spoke up. "So you want us to form a clan to earn money?"

"Don't tell me you want us to work as janitors," the short air scout girl called Hsein Phing said. "I don't want to do anything too tiring."

"I don't know about that, but we can check it out tomorrow. Oh yeah, Phing, make an announcement for all the scout members to gather in the field tomorrow afternoon."

Phing unwillingly went to her computer to issue Dan's instructions.

"O.K., as I said, we'll check this out tomorrow. But first things first. I have to register Ann to the school."

"I never said I wanted to join!"

"Is that so? Why don't you continue on your misadventure then?"

"Oh, yeah…"

"We have to do this in secret. I don't want anyone to know about you. Teachers might ask questions if you register officially."

"So when will we go?"

"Maybe tonight when everyone has left."

"Then what do we do now? Sit here and do nothing?"

"Maybe we should apologize to the new guard. What's his name again...?"

"Can we get something to eat first? I'm hungry…"

"I thought you could cook."

"I feel kinda lazy right now…heheh." Ann said sheepishly.

Dan sighed. "Then let's get something to eat."

"Hey, everyone!" Dan announced to his colleagues, now all back at their desks. "Ann and I are going out for lunch. Want anything?"

"Nope, nothing," Tisha replied.

"Bring us both a burger," Loong and Xiang said.

"Make that three!" Yin added.

"Hasn't lunch time passed already?" Ann asked.

"We get cravings now and then."

"So, three burgers. Let's go, Ann."

The two walked out of the headquarters, letting the rest get back to work. They walked over to Dan's motorcycle.

"Hey Ann, wait for me, will you? I have to switch bikes."

"Can't you just use this one?"

"No, I need to use the other one; it's more convenient compared to my cruiser here. I use my cruiser on long journeys, but I use my moped in the city."

"That's such a waste!"

"**In my opinion, I think it's a waste too, but I still like your Honda Shadow."**

Dan started his bike and let Ann on.

"Aren't you gonna wear a helmet? Do I have to draw two now?"

"No, it's O.K., we're in my area. Nobody is gonna bother us."

"Lawbreaker!"

Dan merely sighed in response. The two rode to the garage near the headquarters.

The garage was a medium sized building with a zinc roof and an exterior designed to reflect the tropical heat typical during this time of year. Dan and Ann got off the bike, pushing the zinc gate aside so they could get through.

The gate made some noise due to the rust on its metal wheel and railings. Once it was out of the way, three underbone motorcycles appeared.

"Why do you have so many bikes in your garage? Are they all yours?"

"No, my bike is that Honda Wave on the end there. The others belongs to Xiang and Loong."

Dan pointed to a blue Honda Wave sitting on the far right of the garage. It had a mostly blue body with some black towards the back. The signal lights on the front looked like sharp looking eyes and the foot peg holders had a silver metallic finish. It also had a box at the back and two carriers by each side. The exhaust pipe pointed upwards with a 40 degree angle, making it suitable when riding through puddles because water couldn't get in the pipe. It was shiny, probably because Dan washed it before he went to earn his martial arts badge.

Dan pushed his Honda Shadow in the garage and started the Honda Wave. He took two helmets off the pegs attached to the garage wall.

"Here you go, now you don't have to draw one." Dan handed a helmet to Ann.

"I prefer drawing my own." Still, Ann accepted the helmet, impatient to eat.

The two sped off, heading out the gate and onto the main school grounds. They navigated through the winding roads until they reached the school's canteen. Dan parked near the door.

The canteen was where the majority of students, and some of the teachers, would buy their meals. Still, some preferred to buy their food from the stalls in the far edges of the place since most food in the canteen was the same everyday. The stalls were lined up to the side of the canteen, selling a variety of food including rice, burgers, ramen, and sandwiches. On the other end sinks were provided. Metal seats and tables occupied the center of the hall.

Sellers bustled about in the back of their stalls, cooking their wares. Some food was already displayed on the counters and some was cooked upon ordering. Overall, the place was nearly empty. The lunchtime rush had ended.

"Order what you want at the counter. I'll pay."

"What are you gonna eat?"

"Maybe some curry rice."

"I'll take what you want; I don't know what to choose from. There are too many choices"

"Then let's go." The two walked to the curry rice stall, owned by a Nidian-Chimbian couple.

"What do ya want?" the tall Nidian man, about age forty, asked them.

"I'll take the 300 gil curry rice." Dan ordered. He then turned to Ann. "Tell him what you want," he whispered.

"Ummm…"

"Come on! I don't have all day for just the two of you!"

"What do you have?"

"This is the curry rice stall! What do you expect?" the seller screeched.

"Look, there are two things on the menu, 300 gil rice or 500 gil rice. You pay for what you get," Dan whispered.

"Fine, keep your pants on! I'll take the 500 gil rice. Happy now?"

"One 300 and 500," the man yelled at a Chimbian woman at the back. She quickly scooped up their portions, adding fried chicken to the bowls and pouring a ladle of curry on the rice.

"You want any cucumbers and chili?"

"Just the cucumbers."

"Extra chili on mine!" Ann ordered. The woman added chopped chili mix onto the plate with the bigger portion.

"You know, it's going to be very spicy."

"I like spicy stuff. I ate a lot while I was in my misadventure."

"That'll be 900 gil. An extra 100 for bad manners."

"What? Apologize to him now!"

"No! I'll pay the extra 100."

"Haih…" Dan handed 800 gil to the seller while Ann unwillingly handed over the 100 gil "fine".

The two took their plates and chose a spot to eat. Once his food was finished, Dan went to the burger stall and ordered four burgers. He refused to bring Ann along because he didn't want to pay extra and she hadn't finished her rice yet. After ordering, Dan returned to his seat.

"You shouldn't treat people like that. People here value respect. When you respect others, they'll treat you better."

"I'll say what I want! The way he talks is too irritating. Come on, should people yell at their customers?"

"He is a bit impatient, but that's 'cause he has a lot of customers and needs to make sure the crowd gets their food quickly."

"There's only the two of us, so what was the rush?"

"He's used to rushing people. Just get used to it and watch your mouth."

"Whatever…" as Ann spoke, the burger salesperson called for Dan, saying his order was ready.

"That'll be 668 gil."

"Here you go," Dan paid for the order.

_At least I don't have to pay a fine with her around…_

"Why did you buy 4? You need an extra one for yourself?" Ann asked when he returned.

"Nah, this one is for Rubay, the new guard."

"Oh yeah, him…"

They noticed that a new stall was being set up in a corner, far away from the food stalls.

"Wonder what that stall is for?" Ann pointed out the said stall.

"Maybe for the clan thingy. We'll check it out tomorrow." Dan thought of the newspaper advertisement.

They came out of the canteen. Dan placed the food on the metal basket on his bike. They rode to the guardhouse to visit Rubay.

"Hey Rubay! We got something for you." Dan took out a burger from his basket and handed it to the bangaa.

"Thanksss, but what is it?"

"It's a burger, you can eat it," Ann mimicked picking up a burger and taking a bite.

"We shouldn't have called you a lizard," Dan said. Rubay's face furrowed as he remembered the incident. "We came back here to apologize."

Dan extended his hand and after a moment Rubay shook it.

"Never mind. Ssssometimesss people make mistakesss, esspecially when they haven't ssseen a bangaa before."

"How about you have a taste of that burger? It's still hot."

The bangaa opened the paper wrapping of the burger and started to eat it. "Mmmm… It tastess good! I never tassted anything like this!"

"Glad you like it."

"So, what made you come here? Is the pay really that good?" Ann asked the newly-made friend.

"Compared to Ivalice, the pay isss higher by a few hundred gil."

"What makes you want to get the extra hundred? It's not that much of a difference."

"Actually, I never liked there. There are too many ssstrange contraptionsss. Essspecially the onesss made by thossse mindlesss mooglesss. They make the worsst things I've ever ssseen! And they have to put their ugly facess on them!"

"Errr…." Dan floundered for words. He didn't know what the bangaa was referring to.

"So did you do in Ivalice?"

"I ussed to be in a clan called Clan Gully. It wasss lead by Lussso, a very young boy, but a brilliant persssson! I accepted a worker transfer program to come here. It was a long journey. This place is far southwest of Ivalice."

"Wait a minute, did you say clan? Is it the one that is coming to canteens nationwide?"

"Yesss, that'sss the one. I used to be a cannoneer back there."

"What's a cannoneer?"

"I usssed hand cannonsss in battle. Here, come up to my watchtower to sssee a demonsstration" Rubay took the two into a lift, bringing them to a small booth a hundred meters above the guardhouse. It was surrounded by a balcony for the bangaa to observe occurrences taking place around the school.

"Here isss my hand cannon," Rubay lifted up a bazooka-like weapon that had been leaning on the walls of the booth. He placed it on a stand affixed to the railing as he looked about for a target. Finally, he pointed out two figures on the sport fields.

"Look, I'll ssshoot them with my hand cannon."

"Won't you kill them?" Dan asked, but his voice was lost in the boom of the cannon.

"BLAM!"

The shot's rebound caused the wooden railings, booth, and floor planks to rattle. Rubay's eyes trailed the cannonball as it whizzed through the air.

"Oh hell…" the two humans froze. The ball flew to the target and hit the ground, causing dust to rise up in a cloud. Birds flew away from the scene. When the dust cleared, Dan noticed a large crater had formed.

"Why did you shoot them?"

"They were bad mouthing me. They had to be sshot!"

"But - killing them? Isn't that a little harsh?" Ann asked.

"I didn't kill them. I only load soft cannonballss which break once they hit the ground, but won't caussse damage to anyone. The force isss only directed to the ground."

"Also, how on earth did you know they were bad mouthing you? They're too far away," Ann pointed out.

"For your information, we bangaasss can hear from far distancesss. For inssstance, I know you scoutsss have a financial crississs."

"O.K., you've got me convinced."

"Um, how often do you shoot people with that gun?" Dan pitched in.

"Thisss isss the firssst time I've ssshoot sssomeone with my hand cannon."

"Don't do that often. Just attack the real threats if possible."

"Fine. Thanksss for hearing me out."

"Maybe we should get going. We have to deliver some stuff to the headquarters."

"Yes, your colleaguesss are waiting for their burgersss."

The two bid farewell to the bangaa once he led them down to the ground floor, getting back on the moped and heading off.

"Here ya go! Your burgers!"

"That took too long! It's almost time to go home!" Yin exclaimed.

"Never mind. He had a lot of work to do with Ann. Right, Dan?" Loong said.

"No, not that! We just went out for lunch, that's all!"

"Yeah, we just went out to eat, nothing special!" Ann protested.

"Whatever, we'll just eat on the way home" Xiang responded.

The school bell rang, signifying it was 430 P.M., the time students who were staying afterschool had to clear out.

"O.K., time to leave. Bye everyone."

Xiang, Loong, Yin, Phing, and Tisha departed. Sounds of motorcycles could be heard as Loong and Xiang sped away on their bikes. The girls typically would walk out to the school gate to wait for their parents or a bus.

Ann spoke up. "So now that everyone's away, what do you want to do?"

"Let's clean ourselves off and put your name on the school's list already."

"So where is your bathroom? And where's your house? Don't you have to go home too?"

"It's upstairs, let me take you there." Dan led the way to a staircase in the corner of the building. They climbed up the steps and unlocked a door, revealing a decent sized apartment that was more than enough for one and sufficient for three. It was a combination of an office and an apartment. On the north side there was a kitchen with the basic appliances and a large window overlooking the school grounds. The living room, beside the kitchen, had sofa situated across from a television and a black coffee table with some stationary piled atop of it. Dan's room was located on the south side with a bed and a desk underneath the window.

Ann surveyed the apartment. "So this is your home. I think it needs more cleaning."

"I don't have much time to clean it."

"I'm sure you're _very_ busy."

"Hai… just go take a shower, I think you haven't bath for three weeks."

"For your information, I bathed before we left the woods!"

"Whatever, I can last without a bath for a week, so you go first."

"Fine…" Ann took a towel and a change of clothes from her pack and went to the bathroom. Dan plopped on his sofa and switched on his computer to check on a social networking website. Nothing much was there. By the time he was done, Ann had finished bathing.

"O.K., your turn!"

"But I was going to rest for a while!"

"No buts, just get in and clean yourself up."

Dan picked up his towel and went to the bathroom while Ann explored his apartment.

"So how 'bout going to the registration now?" Dan said, post-shower.

"All right, but I still don't feel like registering to this place."

"Just come, if not, you might die in battle. At least with a school you'll still be alive."

"I'll register," Ann muttered in defeat.

Both of them went down to the garage and rode to the main headquarters of the school. The sky was dark, the moon smiled down on them, and the stars hid behind clouds. With only the headlights of Dan's underbone guiding them, they sped along the empty roads.

The main building of the school, situated in the middle of the school compound, was where all roads met. The building itself was three buildings joined together, comprised of the prefects' headquarters, the teachers' building, and the school's administration center. The three buildings formed a triangle.

Beside the administration center, a large sign had _Chung Cheng Secondary School_ written on it. An electronic announcement board beneath it was used to show announcements from other administrations and uniformed societies. The time for the scout meeting Dan had instructed was also displayed on the board thanks to the scout's secretary, Hsein Phing.

The two got off the Honda wave and walked to the entrance, which was now locked.

"Shadow, let us in the building," Dan instructed his guardian.

"**I'll send you into my world, from there, just walk to your desired destination and I'll send you back up to your world. I detect someone in the building, but I think it's safe."**

The two went into Dan's **shadow, **allowing them to walk under the door and without anyone noticing. They proceeded to the main office. In it, tables were cluttered with papers and forms. A hulking machine sat in one corner, probably the supercomputer that stored all the school's information.

Dan shuffled through the papers to find the registration form.

"Let's see… absentee slips, transferring schools form, co-curricular form… Aha! There it is, the registration form."

"Are you sure this is legal? Wouldn't a clerk know?"

"No, they won't. Just fill in the form and I'll shove this in the super computer, where it will take the data and put your name in the system."

"If you say so." Ann started to fill her information.

"What about the address? Should I write down the one for my old house?"

"Just put the scout headquarters address."

"Done." Dan took the complete form and put the form in the machine's scanner. The machine hummed and started vibrating, then after a minute there was a _ding_. A brilliant light illuminated Ann, registering her to the system and giving her the ability to survive death in battle.

"All complete."

"What! It's that easy? Why don't more people register to the school secretly?"

"No one can enter the building without someone opening the door for them. Most of the time the door is locked. We just happen to be lucky enough to have Shadow.

"Now it makes sense."

They left the office, but while leaving they heard someone's footsteps. They hid in Dan's **shadow** to observe the mystery person, finding out it was one of the head prefects, Chee Kiat. He probably wanted to check on the machine due to all the noises it made a minute ago. He left when he saw nothing.

Dan was about to call out to him, but Ann clamped a hand over his mouth at the last moment..

"Are you crazy? If he knows that we're here, he could report us!"

"Oh, I didn't think about that. I just want to call out my friend."

"Idiot. Anyway, I wonder what he's doing here."

"He probably had to work overtime. A prefect's life is tough, especially if you're in charge of nearly everything like he is."

They left after the head prefect turned a corner, riding back to Dan's apartment quickly.

"Ahh… what a day we had." Ann flopped on Dan's bed, past the point of caring if it wasn't her own.

_Oh well, looks like I have to sleep on the floor._ Dan pulled out a mattress from under his bed and got ready for bed.

* * *

Dan woke up to his alarm clock, which rang at 7am. He walked up groggily and pressed the off button. Ann was still sleeping on Dan's bed with the blanket and pillows on the floor.

_I think she hasn't slept on a bed for some time._

Dan shook her to wake her up. Ann threw a pillow in response, forcing him to leave her to sleep. He went to brush his teeth and get ready for the day. To wake Ann up, Dan poured a cup of water on her face.

"What do you do that for?"

"To wake you up! It's eight already! We have to be at the canteen to meet Tisha and the rest of the scouts so we can register for the clan system."

"Oh yeah. I'll just be a minute." Ann quickly got herself ready and ran down to where Dan was waiting.

The two sped off to the canteen. When they arrived, everyone else was already there.

"So let's see what this clan system in the paper is."

"Hope it's not one of those schemes where they trick people into doing their dirty work," Xiyin said.

"I don't think so, why would it be advertised in the papers in that case?" Xiang replied.

"Hmm… you never know. Maybe they have tons of blood money to pay for the advertisement space," said Hsien Phing.

"Just give it a try!" Loong exclaimed, bringing an end to the conversation as he led everyone inside. The stall Dan saw being built yesterday was now crowded with smartly-dressed officials running it. Pupils in the canteen gawked at the sight, their uncertain voices reaching Dan's ears.

"That looks like a new stall. Wonder what is sells?"

"It doesn't look like it's selling food, that's for sure."

"Aww... I thought it was going to sell exotic food. I'm bored with the food here."

"Well, I don't see any kitchen behind the counter."

"There's bottles lined up behind the counter, maybe it's selling drinks."

"We'll check it out once its officially opens."

The scouts sat on the chairs and waited for the new stall to open. Dan idly observed the crowd, bored. He saw a thin boy with a sword sheath attached to his belt wearing Chimbian clothing, accompanied by a slightly taller boy wearing gloves with white and black symbols emblazoned on them. There was yet another boy in this trio who was overweight and had brass knuckles tied to his belt. All were wearing the same clothes. Come to think of it, they looked familiar.

"Hey, Way Peng! Yam!" Dan called, finally recognizing the Wushu Temple members.

"Hey Dan," the three walked over to Dan's table. "What are you doing here?"

"We're going to register for the clan system."

"We're gonna do that too!" the trio sat next to the Dan's company.

"Oh ya, I haven't introduced you to my comrades. These people are Vee Xiang, Hsein Loong, Xiyin, Tisha, Hsein Phing, and Ann. All of them are my scout admins except for Ann. I met her in the woods on the way home.

Everyone, this is Way Peng, Yam, and Kian Yee."

"Yeah, and before I forget, here's your badge, you forgot to take it back when you left and…" Way Peng's voice grew softer. "Here's the bill."

"Here, Tisha, put this in the ledger," Dan handed the bill to Tisha, whose eyes widened upon looking at the slip of paper. _He must out of his mind. We're in a deficit and he's still adding debts to the account. No wonder he flunked accounting._

She then accepted the bill with a fake grin on her face to lighten the situation.

"So, what brings you here?" Loong asked the wushu members.

"We are a part of this school too, it's just that our headquarters is a temple in the mountains."

"Oh, that's why our seniors always recommend the temple for the martial arts badge," Xiang deducted.

"I think the stall is opening now." Ann pointed to the stall, which was increasing in activity. They rushed to the stall in an attempt to be there early.

The main stall operator was wearing a turban on his head and a white robe. He had a goatee on his chin.

"Listen, you imbeciles! I have worn my feet out traveling here from Ivalice and I'm dog-tired. So your sorry little souls better appreciate it and not give me any trouble." The man cleared his throat. "I am here to introduce you to the clan system. If you don't listen to my explanations and try to ask me questions afterwards, you're going to regret it. First, when you register a clan your records will be hooked up to the school system, so registering will be quick and idiot-proof. Once you register, you will be given a device called a Grimoire, which will keep track of everything and will solve most of your problems about this system as it has a tutorial installed. Also of note, our clan system is slightly different than the one in Ivalice. You can now ask for help from other clans if you need it. Not that its' going to help you. Vehicles are also permitted if you have a license. If you register now all you have to do is pay a small fee and you will earn a substantial amount of money."

"What's with that crazy turban guy?" Hsein Phing asked the company.

"He did say he came from a far away country. Maybe he faced some problems while coming here. He might settle down tomorow" Xiang replied back.

"Do you want to join?" Dan asked his comrades.

"How about we spilt up," Xiang suggested. "That way we can earn money faster."

"Yeah, good idea," Loong agreed.

"So, how are we gonna spilt?" Dan asked them.

"Maybe we can split by Land Scout, Sea Scout, and Air Scout. Each of us perform better in the fields we're in," said Xiang.

Loong frowned. "What about the name? We need a name."

"How about KB28 Land, KB28 Sea, and KB28 Air. It tells what we are and where we're from since it has our district code in the name," Dan suggested.

"Good idea."

"Loong, can I invite Zhi Jing to our clan? He can be useful," Xiyin pleaded. Zhi Jing was the name of her boyfriend.

"All right, just make sure he does what I tell him to."

Everyone went to the counter to register their clan. The operator was scowled at them as he collected the forms and hooked it up to the school system for registration.

"Take your Grimoire and learn its functions yourself. You should know how use a cellphone, so you should know how to use this," the operator handed Dan a brown device that resembled a book on the outside. However, if you opened the cover there was a touchscreen inside instead of pages. It also had an antenna protruding from it. "Have a nice death," the operator muttered as Dan walked away, examining the device.

Dan's eyes widened. "Oh no, not another charger-based device, my house doesn't have enough electrical outlets to charge _everything_."

"Come on, just check out it's functions," Ann insisted. Tisha was also looking at the new device.

A menu was shown on the main page. Options like contacts, messaging, clan statistics, log entries, and quest entries were shown on screen. Dan checked on the clan statistics.

Leader: Dan(Land Scout)

Title: KB28 Land

Members: Ann (Red Crescent Moon Member/Artist), Tisha (Land Scout)

Clan points: 0

Clan funds: 10,127 gil

Clan skills: Negotiation: 1

Aptitude: 1

Adaptability: 1

Teamwork: 1

Vehicles: Honda Shadow (motorcycle), Honda Wave (motorcycle)

"Quests will be available tomorrow" The operator said.

"Looks like we have to come back tomorrow for taking some quests" Loong said in disappointment.

"We have to go back to the headquarters to tell the scout members that we will not be operating anymore" Dan reminded the company about the announcement he is going to tell the scout members.

"Yeah, we can't conduct any activities when don't have time since we are busy with this" Xiang pitched in with his Grimoire in hand.

"And money" Tisha added while staring at the three troop leaders.

"We'll meet back at the headquarters after lunch" Dan instructed the other two clan leaders.

KB28 Scout and company's space

* * *

Dan: Since when did so many people come in here? And what happened to the name?

Ann: Yeah! This is our own private space!

Loong: Hey, we can't just stand outside the whole day

Xiyin: Ya! The sun is burning hot today! We'll get sunburn if we stay outside one more minute

Xiang: There's air conditioning here too

Tisha: Don't you that cost money. Did you use the scout's money again?

Dan: Noo. I stole this space from the author.

Hsien Phing: Bad boy…

?: CowaBangaa!

*Rubay crashes in from the air, Hand cannon in hand*

Dan: Now how did you know about this place?

Rubay: I heard your conversssation just now and I want in.

Ann: Hmmm…

Loong: What's that you're holding?

Rubay: Thisss? Itsss hand cannon. Let me ssshow you how it worksss.

*Aims hand cannon at the top of this page, fires it*

BLAM!

Dan and Ann: Oh hell… Not again…

Loong: That can be useful in my boat.

Xiyin: Stop thinking violent thought!

Rubay: I aimed at the author up there!

Tisha: Why'd you do that? He the creator here.

Hsein Phing: He's no god, just a plain writer with some no good internet connection.

Xiyin: yeah, he sometimes has to send emails twice to make sure it arrives.

Tisha: But seriously, Rubay. Why did you do that?

Rubay: He wasss talking bad about the readersss up there.

Dan: he had some problems with reference of the game, since we are all OCs, and most of this is his idea. Lousy ideas…

Rubay: Wait, I think I can hear the author sssaying sssomething. I'll get a long range camera and microphone for you all to sssee.

Author from the top on the charred floor with one hand weakly raised up: please…. help… need…good…forum…with…people… in…it…for… quest… ideas… and suggestion...

Go... www(.)fanfiction(.)net/forum/School_Tactics_Advance_forum/87684/ ... to...give..quest ideas..and stuff... and please review...


	8. Tutorial on Bikes

Author's space: First of all, I'd like to apologize about the huge delay on updating. I had an important exam and my schedule was packed. (Being a scout troop leader isn't that easy.) I also had to do national service, a program organized in my country for youth at the age of seventeen to receive military training. So updates will be coming in about 4 months. I sincerely apologize again. Also, I'm planning to rewrite this whole story so please reread the previous chapters once I announce the revamp.

Oh yeah, one more thing, this chapter has a lot of references to motorcycles, and I know some of you have never sat on one or even operated one. So I'll make a small section on the bottom of this chapter so that you'll understand how to use a motorcycle.

* * *

Chapter 8( Yay! My lucky number!)  
New Beginnings

"Alright, now we've created our clans. What do we do next?"

"You can find new members or you can take in quests from the bartender to earn money" the Grimoire said. The party looked at the bartender upon hearing this, only to receive a scolding from the bartender.

"Quests aren't ready yet; come back tomorrow," the bartender remarked, sighing. "I can't believe I travelled all the way here just to do the same thing I did back in Ivalice. You two!" He pointed to his assistants. "Take over while I go and have my breakfast; I'm already late."

The two assistants quickly marched to the counter and to handle prospective customers.

"Why didn't he just ask them to do their work in the first place?" Hsien Phing said, pointing out the fact the workers had previously just been sitting down behind the bartender.

"Let's just leave; we got nothing to do here for now." Vee Xiang started to put his Grimoire in his pocket. The other clan leader did the same.

"So, what next?" Ann looked at Dan with an eager look on her face.

"We'll get back to headquarters. It's going to be afternoon soon."

The party left and headed to their motorcycles, but stopped when they heard a voice from the Grimoires.

"You are approaching a motorcycle. Would you like to initiate battle module: Motorcycle?"

"Huh? What's this thing here?" the sea scout leader asked.

Vee Xiang noticed a "more info" button on the screen.

The screen brought up a message. "Motorcycles are allowed to be used in battle for an advantage in some situations. Master the vehicle and the advantage is yours. The following is a tutorial on the use of motorcycles in battle. Pillion riders are allowed."

"There's still an hour of free time and the HQ is just a few minutes away."

"It's better to be prepared rather than unprepared; let's check this out."

The four motorcyclists and pillion riders got on their bikes, and the clan leaders hit the initiate buttons simultaneously. A huge flash was emitted by the Grimoire, bringing them into a virtual world. Panels stood before them in an infinite line. A disembodied voice with a robotic tone started to talk.

"We shall start our tutorial," The computerized voice began. "In battle, a rider must control his bike with both of his hands. This causes a problem - single bikers cannot wield their weapons since both of their hands are occupied. To solve this, Ivalice Laboratories has created a particle shifter to move the controls to the subdominant hand. The functions and handling of your bike will still be the same and untouched by the Particle Shifter. Please choose your dominant hand."

Two panels appear in front of each of the riders, reading "left" and "right". The riders hovered their dominant hands over the appropriate panels. The controls then shifted to one end. Dan's right handlebar seemed empty after the transformation, but the left side became more complicated than ever.

_Now this is going to take some getting used to,_Dan thought to himself as he saw the others revving their bikes.

**"This will be a great advantage in battle; you'll understand once you get the experience."**

"Since everyone is ready, we'll commence the training module," the computerized voice announced as the bikers were each transported to a separate training field in a flash of light. The field was composed of pixel-like blocks that stretched on endlessly. Some of the blocks shifted to form obstacles and tracks scattered throughout the course. Once the course was fully developed, a bright light flash created a path the motorcycle would have to travel on.

"Looks like it's me and you then," Dan, the only biker on the course, said.

"Ceh," Ann grunted. "It's not like you can complete this whole course on your own, can you?"

"Ivalice Corp. has created a module composed of a series of 8 targets around this path. Hit them all and you pass."

"Ann, you hit the targets while I drive" Dan commanded as he revved his bike and clenched the clutch.

He then slowly released the clutch as he pulled the throttle, his bike starting to move slowly with a slight rev. It accelerated to a speed of 20km/h, the maximum speed at which you could change the first gear. Dan pulled in the clutch without realizing he had also pulled the front brakes by mistake. His bike jerked, shaking like a wild stallion, causing Ann to fall.

"Hey, watch it! Can't you use a bike?" the girl scowled, a cross look on her face. Dan hung his head as he offered his hand to Ann.

"How come you suddenly can't ride? You lost your ability?"

"It's not that I don't know how to ride, but it's hard to get used to the new controls on my bike."

"Ah ah ah, no buts about it. Just a few minor changes and you're whining? I thought scouts were able to adapt."

Dan, at loss for words, could only sigh in response. He had failed as a scout.

Ann climbed back onto the Honda Shadow and Dan proceeded back to the start.

"This time I won't accept failure."

"Can't you see I'm not used to this?"

"No, I can't see that. Not at all," she said sarcastically, shaking her head.

**"Don't worry, she's encouraging you. Keep moving and remember that the clutch is the top one. The front brakes are on the bottom."**

_"Thanks__**Shadow**__,I really needed some encouragement."_

Dan started his bike again, clenching his clutch and revving up his bike. _**"Easy now . . . Just relax and stay calm."**_He slowly released his clutch, continuing to pull more of the throttle and brought his bike up to 20Km/h. Then he pressed on the clutch - carefully avoiding the front brakes - ,changed gears and released the clutch. The bike accelerated.

"Now you're doing it. Let's take this course down!" His partner pulled out an arrow and placed it on her bow, ready to aim when a target came into her line of sight. Dan smiled in accomplishment, accelerating even more.

Keeping a steady course, they approached a target. "I got this one." Ann pulled the arrow back, took aim, and released. A hit! The target shattered into several small pixel blocks and disappeared.

Dan took a left, spotting a target behind a cube several yards away from them.

"Over there," Dan yelled as he pointed to the target passing them on their right.

Ann quickly fired an arrow. It seemed like the arrow was going to miss until the tail of the arrow brushed the edges of the target. It dissolved into smaller blocks.

"Good thing I can use my hand while riding. That might prove useful."

"Well duh, that's the main point of this."

The path took a sharp turn to the right, forcing Dan to tilt his bike. Suddenly, a target appeared in a hole on the road beside the sharp turn.

An arrow was shot, but its flight was wobbly because of the unstable conditions during a turn.

"Can't you avoid tilting your bike? It's hard to aim."

"I'd like to, but I can't when I'm on a sharp turn. I won't be able to make it if I don't." The third target broke into pieces as they left the sharp turn.

As they continued, they saw a long straight road after a right turn, two targets were moving together antagonistically, not to mention fast.

"This is going to be hard," Ann whined as she nocked an arrow. As they got on the straight section of the path, they saw one of the targets slightly further behind a target alongside the road.

**"Teamwork is the key here, combine both of your strengths for this."**

"We have to hit the targets when they are in the same place, notice that both of them slow down."

"We? How are you gonna hit while driving?"

"Just watch."

Dan let go some of the throttle to slow down to 40 km/h. His right hand held a machete, ready to strike. He looked to his right, waiting for the targets to intersect with one another. Near the middle of the long stretch, the targets slowed down.

"Now!" Dan commanded as he pulled out his machete to destroy the first target. Ann hit the other target. They proceeded along the course, returning to cruising speed at 60 km/h.

They soon reached a 90 degree turn to the left, making a U-shape in the course. The two targets came up, one on the left, the other on the right with a wall behind it.

"You take the left, I'll take the right" Ann instructed. Dan was astonished; he couldn't really stab on the left side since his left hand was occupied.

"Just do as I say, you'll regret if you don't." As they got close, Dan stabbed the target on his left while Ann shot the other.

"There's a wall behind your target." Dan flinched for a millisecond once he realized that his blade would been damaged if he had hit the right target.

After some time on the long, straight road, they realized that only 7 targets were destroyed, with one still undiscovered.

"Where's the last one?"

"Look up." A target was positioned 200 feet above the ground and 500 feet away.

"Whoa, that's way too high for my arrow."

"And I don't think my blade will even touch the target."

**"Teamwork, like I said before."**

_"But how?"_

**"I'll just have to leave that to you two. Happy discussing."**

"Damn, just when we need his advice."

"So how are we gonna do this, showboy?"

"I'll throw my knife at the target. You shoot the knife to make it gain speed and go farther."

"Might? Well, it's worth a shot." Dan stared at the target as he swung his sword on a rope in a circular motion to gain speed. Ann nocked an arrow, preparing for the big shot.

_Teamwork he said, eh? This all I can think of at the moment. Hope it works._

Dan threw his sword, the rope trailing behind it in the air. After the sword achieved a height of 50 feet, Ann shot two arrows simultaneously to give Dan's sword a boost. The arrow got caught on the rope, pulling it further. The finish line was approaching fast. As they both closed in on the gate, their projectile closed in on the target. Just before Dan's bike wheel touched the finish line, the target broke.

The module was complete.

"Wooh yeah!" Ann shouted. "That was fun. I wish I could go through it again!"

"Congratulations on completing the module. Your score is 50 due to inaccuracy. Ivalice Laboratories would like you to perform better next time."

"A fifty? That's all?" Dan said in astonishment.

"Looks like you'll have to practice more to master this. You messed up at the start, so it's all your fault anyway."

"Maybe later, let's exit this."

"As you wish," the computerized voice answered and a bright flash brought them out.

As the two teleported to the real world, they saw the others waiting for them.

"So what took you so long? You know that time is money, right?" Tisha asked as she approached them with doubt on her face.

"Yeah, we waited for more than 10 minutes after we completed the test. It was easy to finish," the sea scout said.

"Well, your bikes are using semi-clutches while mine is full clutch," Dan defended.

"I know! They were alone together in their own little virtual world and didn't want to go back because they had complete privacy in there. Am I right?" Xiyin exclaimed.

"Yeah, and they can get so close and starting kissing and going n-" Dan quickly punched the air scout before he finished his sentence.

"We should all shut up and let our president get to his speech . . . oh, I meant troop leader. It's late now and we don't want to make the other members wait, do we?" Hsien Phing said.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that speech. Well, let's get going then."

* * *

So some of you might not have been on a motorcycle so I'm going to try to explain on how to ride and operate a motorcycle.

Before you starting revving your bike, you obviously have to start the bike (you don't say . . .). Then you can start revving. The purpose of revving is to warm up the engine and ready the bike for movement, especially with full-clutch bikes. To accelerate, one must turn(though we normally say pull) the throttle(it's on the right handlebar). To accelerate more, just pull the throttle more. Let go, and the bike will slow down.

Then we move on to gears. Gears give different amounts of power to push the bike and are used in different situations. For example, when the bike is stationary, a large amount of force is required to break the inertia of the bike. Therefore, the first gear will have a large amount of force applied to it. However, there is a speed limit of 20 km/h for the first gear (though the exact limit depends on the bike you're using), after that the engine over-revs and makes a lot of noise. The second gear is for accelerating to another speed; once again, after it reaches this speed it will over-rev. You can break the speed limit for the gears, but it will damage the bike's engine.

Once you reach another speed limit for a gear, you change gears until you reach the top gear, which will usually be 4, 5 or 6 (again, it depends on model and type). When you're using a bike with a full clutch, the clutch will be on the left handlebar. You have to press it to change gears. When you're transitioning from stationary to moving, you have to slowly release the clutch while pulling some of the throttle. To change gears, you have to press the clutch, then use your left foot to press on the gear changer (some might call it the gear shifter) to change gears. The difference between semi clutch and full clutch is that semi clutch won't have a clutch on the left handle bar and you just simply press on the gear changer to change gears.

When it comes to changing gears, the sequence from gear to gear is neutral, first, second, third, fourth and so on. Some motorcycles go up to third gear, while some go up to sixth. Mopeds only go up to third, while big bikes go up to sixth. To change gears on a full clutch, you first press the clutch, then you put your feet under the gear changer and lift it up. This is called upshifting. Downshifting is the complete opposite, where you press down on the gear changer. While on semi-clutch bikes, you press forward using the front of your feet to upshift and use the back of your feet to downshift gears.

When on sharp turns, you will have to tilt the bike to put more weight on one side to turn easily. You can see this in bike races where bikers have to tilt for more than 80 degrees to turn. The bike will be unstable when it turns. It's called counter-steering.

Here's some videos of bikes and a bit more of a detailed explanation:  
Introduction :  watch?v=kgNIPIRvkGI  
Shifting gears:  watch?v=FwDzuz8cWhQ  
Counter Steering:  watch?v=dqcRPv-rOi8&feature=relmfu  
All these videos are not mine and they belong to their respective owners, let me know if I'm missing something.

**(Links probably not necessary, but it's your call.)**

**School Tactics Advance Talk Show**

Dan: Hello, and welcome to today's talk show!

Ann: With your hosts, Ann and Dan. Today's topic is why there was a big delay on this chapter and why it's so short compared to the last.

Dan: We would like to welcome our guest for today, the author of _School Tactics Advance_, Scoutmasterkb28.

*A faint scream is heard, getting louder every second. Suddenly, the author falls onto his seat from a tube overhead.*

Ann: So what took you so long to write this? Were you trapped in a cave or something? And if you were, that's still no excuse. I should know, seeing as I have lived in a cave and managed to be creative in spite of it. Why couldn't you?

Sm28: Well, er . . . I wasn't actually in a cave. I had a lot of work to do.

Dan: But it has been on hiatus for more than a year. Seriously, what happened?

Sm28: I have been too occupied on school and real life. I had a big exam last year and I had to go do national service three months ago.

Ann: What did you do in national service and what was so big about this exam?

Sm28; The exam was a big part of my life as this exam was my final exam for my secondary school education. It decided my future and whether I could get enrolled in a good college or university. When you get a good result on the exam, you have a higher chance of getting scholarships. While in national service I had to participate in military training, "patriotism", and other things.

Dan: Well, that sounds great. So you got to play with guns?

SM28: Yeah, it was great. We had a chance to use a M-16 rifle.

Ann: He's dangerous! Security, secure him and check to see if he's armed.

Sm28: What? I only used it once.

*VeeXiang and HsienLoong, decked out in suits and sunglasses, approach the author and pull him away.*

Dan: 's all for today.

Ann: Hope you had a great day.


	9. The Troop Leader's Speech

A/N: I've decided to change a bit of the format of this chapter. Hopefully you could enjoy this chapter better than the older ones.

This is the unbetaed version, there might be some mistakes here and there, but I need to post it fast due to some of you want to get it as soon as possible.

* * *

Chapter 9: The Troop leader's speech

**7 January 2011, 3pm**

**Scout headquarters, Chung Cheng High School.**

The headquarters was quiet, only seven figures stood on the podium of the cement field in front of the main building. The four motorcycles were parked near the main entrance. Three flag poles were behind Dan and his company, they stood waiting. Dan wearing his official uniform, a grey shirt with two chest pockets, emblazoned with the scout badge in one pocket. A dark-blue with a red stripe forage cap was worn on his head, covering the front of his hair. The right shoulder have badges of Kelantan, the state name, Kay Bee, district name, and 28, the district number the school's scouts was registered. The left, the newly acquired martial arts badge, a symbol of a fist striking, was placed. Apart from that, a badge with three red stripes with the scout symbol in the middle was sewn over his right chest pocket, the troop leaders badge while the left was a badge with "Dan" imprinted on a black plate. Dark-blue khakis were worn. Tisha had the similar uniform too, just lacking a few badges she haven't earn. VeeXiang wore a light blue uniform, a beret, and similar badges as Dan's uniform with V.X Lee as the badge. While HsienLoong wore a white uniform, with a white peaked cap. The other scouts wore their respective uniforms, similar as Tisha's. The only person who was odd that time was Ann, the only one wearing her Red Crescent Moon society uniform, which was really out of place.

Members soon came up wearing their respective attire. They grouped up and chatted among themselves. Noise flooded the atmosphere in no time. Dan overheard some of their conversations.

" It's so hot in the this time of the day, why would they even hold meetings at such place?" A young 13-year-old member complained.

"We always hold meetings here, just bear with it. It took me some time to get used to it. By the way, you'll be tougher once you join. Though the activities are boring, with just marching and drills in every activity, and some games in between, but it wasn't that fun" A senior member explained.

"This wasn't stated in the description on Orientation Day. We saw members showing neat stuff by using knots. It looks so interesting, so I joined"

"Well, what I meant was last year's activities, the troop leader was different back then, He was Wee ArrVinn, he graduated already. I just don't know what Dan has up in his sleeve for this year, though he was a strict and fierce when he was the assistant troop leader last year."

After over hearing about Orientation Day, Dan looked back the day he was representing for the scouts on the slot for co-curricular activities during Orientation Day.

**3 January 2011, Orientation Day**

**Seminar Room, Chung Cheng High**

The room was filled with eager and excited new students who have enrolled in this school. The boys wore white shirts with green khakis while the girls would wear a blue pinafore with a white shirt under the pinafore. A great divide can be seen between the boys and girls as they were seated separately. A lot of chatter could be hear, the noise was so loud it penetrated the walls of the room. A table was arrange in the front for the principal and assistant teachers to seat. A podium with the school's emblem, and upside down triangle with a torch burning lively bearing the name of the school. A partition was behind the tables and chairs.

Soon after 15 minutes of chatter, silence broke out once the door was opened by a tall man in his forties, bearing brown curvy short hair. He had a long face with slight wrinkles. He wore a white shirt with a suit and tie.

"Silence! Did you know I could even hear your voices while I'm on the stairs? Please shut up or you'll face suspension" the whole hall had tensed up as the tall man took his seat in a hurried manner.

Moments later, a short man with straight black hair combed to the sides, his face was round and smooth as you would never thought he is near to his fifties. He wore a blue shirt with a suit and tie. He was easily recognised as the principal, Mr. Teo which his name tag on his tie gave it away. He was accompanied by another older looking man, slightly taller than Mr. Teo. He had white hair and his face was slightly oval.

Mr Teo proceeded to the podium and announced. "Welcome to Chung Cheng, I'm your principal, Mr Teo Soon Seng, and I hope you all can take up the new challenges in a new school, first of all I would like to introduce our head teachers."

Mr Teo pointed at the tall man as he stood up. " This is Mr Gan KokHwi, He's the assistant teacher for administrations."  
He then proceeded to the other man. "This is Mr. Wong TackKeong, He's in charge of co-curricular activities"

Suddenly the door slammed open, a tall woman followed by two students wearing blue long sleeved shirts and white pants while another is wearing a white skirt. Both of them were wearing a tie with the school's symbol emblazoned on their ties with a golden tie clip which wrote "Head Prefect". The thin boy had a pale long face with a crew cut hair-style, he was 1.7meters tall and he could tower the woman if she didn't wear high heels. His name tag had Lee YanHong written on his right chest. The other girl was slightly overweight, with short hair until her chin level. The two followed the woman in and stood behind her as she got herself seated. The woman wore a red dress which really matched her hair. She had no expressions at all, not even the feel of guilt being late.

"And this is Mrs. Chang KimHuay, she is the head of discipline for this school." Mr Teo continued his speech and lecture about high school life.

While behind the partition, Dan and a few other presidents of clubs were there. All them were the same age as Dan. A boy holding an Erhu, which resembles a Chimbian fiddle. He was wearing a crimson shirt with knots and loops as buttons. The theme of the shirt resembles a lot on nature and flowers. His name was Hing JyiShen, the Chimbian Orchestra leader. Next to him, stood his assistant, Foo ChiKhing, a boy who is slightly shorter than JyiShen. Both of them are chimbian, have short hair and wear glasses. The assistant is holding a chimbian flute. A boy dressed in a dark-blue uniform was by the sides. He had a slight tan due to marching under the sun. His uniform have silver badges which has an emblem of a tiger and crossed kris. He had a gun in a holster hung on his right belt. He's Koh KeVin, the police cadet leader. Next to him was an overweight boy who wore a camouflage uniform with red, green, brown and black stripes. He's the fire brigade cadet, Khoo PhauTzen. He was also tanned due to the same reason as KeVin. Both of them chatted along as they trying their best to calm themselves before their presentation. Two student in dark green uniforms were chatting together. They have machine guns strapped on their shoulder. One was a Chimbian-Symbian boy whose name was Zaini Pay as shown on his name tag. He's a mixed symbian and chimbian. The girl next to him is Tan HweeCheng, as her name shows her initials "H.C Tan". She have a strong tan and short hair. They are the leaders for the school cadets. All four of them have earned the title Sergeant in their respective groups.

On the other corner, two girls wearing uniforms resembling nurse uniforms but there are slight differences. A tall chimbian girls with brown short hair wore a black and white uniform with a emblem of a wheel and four arrows in the circle pointing inwards, forming something similar to St. John's cross. The other girl is a short and tanned girl. She wore glasses and short brown hair. Her uniform is a white shirt with a black rope encircle her left shoulder and ends in her left chest pocket. They are the leaders for St. John's ambulance and The red crescent moon society respectively. Another two girls in martial arts robes were in another side. A girl with short brown hair and half rimmed glasses who wore the robe with an emblem of a fist while the other one was a girl with long hair tied into a ponytail. They are Hong Jiayun and Foo Veewen, both from the karate and taekwon group. Way Peng and another girl who wore a Wushu robes, which was similar to the Chimbian Orchestra uniform but without the flowery motives.

Another two boys who wore jackets sporting a Chimbian lion(link for chimbian lion below for more info) and another with a long dragon curled up. They were Ooi JuinnWeng and Xie WenLong, who was a Chimbian lion tamer and another was dragon tamer. They both have their animals beside them, looking just like the picture on their jacket.

The MC started to announce " Thank you for the enlightening speech Mr Gan, Now we would like to welcome our students from each co-curricular club and uniformed bodies to represent and introduce their organisations for thenew students."

"First up we have the Chimbian Orchestra! This group is our school's asset as they have performed many shows in public to earn our school fame and money. Let us welcome give a big round of applause the lead of this orchestra, Hing Jyishen."

Jyishen came out of the partition along with Chikhing holding their instruments at hand. He proceeds to the microphone and chuckled "I think you have praised me too much as my head now is full of endorphins flowing through my blood vessels. Enough of your delightful praise. Yes, as the MC said, we are one of the school's assets as we are paid to perform in functions and events. Enough of that, we'll show you a demonstration of what you can experience as a member"

Jyishen place the sound box, which is the bob of the fiddle. While Chikhing readies his flute by his lips. Jyishen started to pull the er hu, creating a humming sound and proceeds to create a melody and the flute synchronises with it. The students were all stunned by the melody made.

"That's not all. Watch this." The leader started to tweak his fiddle for a moment, so did his assistant. Then the start to play again, but this time without any noise. Everyone in the room was surprised and astonished as why there wasn't any sound created. Soon, birds flock into the room as start to chirp in a tune, as it can hear the melody being played and chirping to its melody. The crowd applauded so hard, Dan's eardrums nearly broke.

"Thank you, Thank you" the duo both bowed down. "You're applause is the music to my ears"

"_Shit, if the first performance is this good, mine is gonna be like nothing to the new students" _ Dan thought to himself. The others think of the same too, with their head shaking from left to right with a frown on their faces. **"Don't worry, although they might have more new members, they would have more "junk" members than real, dedicated members. Besides how can you teach so many new members at one go? So just be happy, because they'll get the trouble later"**

"_You got a point there, __**Shadow**__. Thanks for bringing back my hopes up when I really need it."_

"So next up we have the Police cadet leader, Koh Kevin to present what is it like to be in the force"

Kevin walked up to the podium. "As a police cadet, you will be trained to handle handguns and learn many hand to hand combat techniques. Plus you get to use a baton as well." He then proceed on giving a demonstration of his hand gun. Standing in the centre of the stage, he aimed to the partition behind the room. Once the trigger is pulled, a everyone's ears was drown with the noise of the gunshot.

"The fire brigade would present next."

Phautzen walked to the centre. Without saying a word, we rolled out what seems to be a fire blanket, but this one has most of a fire brigade's equipment, ranging from an axe, a fire extinguisher, a hose, a water pressure pack which resembles a backpack filled with water. "These are the tools for a fire brigade member, I would brief with more detail about each equipment once you join our team. For now, I can demonstrate the axe I have." He pulled out and started swinging it around. But no one could be aroused by his presentation.

"Coming up would be the scouts group to present. Here's Dan to give a demonstration."

Dan walked up with a solid face as it was made of stone. "As you might know, scouts is an organisation for helping youths to develop themselves to be more independent and learn how to serve the community. In our training, we would train about self-discipline, woodcraft and many more. Besides that, if you're feeling adventurous, you could try out for the King Scout courses and earn the King Scout badge of honour."

Dan took out a few wooden structures which resembles towers used in camps. "These are some of the samples of woodcrafting skills, it might be small, but we would train you to build a two-storey high structure if you're really that interested. And here's one last demonstration for the end of this presentation"

Dan unsheathe his machete and tied a rope onto the hilt and start to spin it. After the it had gained some speed, Dan released his machete, letting it fly through the room and ending its flight by smashing the partition at the end. Bits of woodchips flew hitting some of the sleeping students who sat at the back.

"That is all for my presentation."

"Dan, the principal would like you to meet him after the orientation session."

"_Shit! This has to be about the partition. Why me? When Kevin was the first who shot his gun..." _

Zaini and Hweecheng were next and they showed their neat assault rifles while shooting a stream of bullets on the half broken partition. Everyone applauded as the duo finish their ear shattering display.

"First up For the martial arts group would be from Wushu. Let's welcome Foo Waypeng and Foo Wayshan to the stage."

"So anyone here wanna be tough? Or anyone who want to imitate the martial arts skills your superheroes perform without being laughed at? Join wushu and we'll show you a few tricks."

He then pulled out his sword and started to swing it around, showing his wushu moves while Wayshan pulled out her fan and dance. Suddenly the sword wielder attempt to slash his partner, only to be blocked by her fan. She then retaliated with a slap with her fan, leaving Waypeng flying backwards with a stream of blood on a new cut on his face. "Girls, you can join to learn how to fend of muggers like him. I'll personally teach you this skill if you join."

Next the dragon and lion tamers were up, they showed some of their tamed creatures to perform a few attacks as Wenlong's dragon sprayed fire as Juinnweng's lion pounce around the crowd.

**10AM**

**Mr Teo's office**

Dan was sitting down as he listened to Mr Teo's lecture. His office was a big one compared to the other head teachers. It has a large table with papers strewn over it, mostly documents for him to sign. A sofa next to his table for visitors. A well taken care plant was next to his chair. Behind Dan was a rack lined up with trophies protected by a glass window. Although his office is full other decorations, Dan would not notice any of it as he was taking a beating with Mr Teo's words. "... destroying a partition with a machete? Are you out of your mind? What if the PTA members were here? How can I explain this to them? That their money is being spend for destruction? Since the wall is destroy under the name of your scouts. I would punish you by taking your scout funds to replace the partition. That should settle this. Be it as a lesson to be wary for school property."

"But Kevin was the first to make a hole on the wall..."

"No buts, the money used to replace the partition will be from the scouts group. No exceptions." Dan walked while slouching out of the office with an invoice of the fee for paying the partition.

The scouts have arrived in front of the headquarters as instructed yesterday. They were all lined up in a three rows, the usual way in a drill. The scene looked like as there was three pools of different colours as they were in formation, separated in each scout group type. But there was one members rushing to the gate. Her uniform had a badge with two stripes on her right chest pocket, with a name tag Leyney on the left. She had a tan, big eyes, a tad on the overweight scale and long curly hair. She's the assistant troop leader for the Land scouts.

"Sorry *huff* for the lateness *huff* actually I can't come today *huff*"

"Then why did you came then?"

"It was your orders!"

"Very well then. Go and count our members and report back to me. Officially"

She proceeded and counted the members. The other assistant troop leaders went to count their respective members as well.

"ASSISTANT TROOP LEADERS, REPORT IN!" Dan shouted his order, it was compulsory to make a loud and clear order, especially during drills and ceremonies. The troop leaders tensed up and started to march to Dan stamping their feet twice, indicating their stop. They saluted Dan at the same time, Dan returned their salute. Dan stood on the middle, standing up straight, with his expressionless face after their salute.

"errr.. Assistant Air Scout troop err... leader, Chong Weicheng, here. Err... 20... err... or was it 25? Oh no... what am I to do now? Err..." the short and pale looking assistant troop leader started to jitter and stutter for the next minute, muttering nothing but nonsensical sounds. The other troop leaders towered over him.

"Just say the number, build up your courage and say it" Dan whispered to Weicheng without moving a limb.

"23! safe to err... report to your command Sir!"

"Assistant Land Scout troop leader LeyNey here, with the strength of 45, 30 members and 15 new members, ready to report into your command, Sir!"

"Assistant Sea Scout troop leader Szelong here, with the strength of 35 members... can we just skip the formalities? It's just too hard remember these lines"

Dan replied with a strict and stern "No.".

"Aww... ready to report in your command Sir"

"Get back to you places, Assistant Troop Leaders, Turn to the back, To the Back... Turn!"

The trio turned and stamped their feet in a synchronised manner. They walked back to their places.

"The Scouts Promise!" Dan barked out his command.

A member took one step out and raised his arm to his shoulder height, arranging his three fingers together with his last finger under his thumb.

"UP!" everyone else including Dan raised their hand in the similar manner.

"On my honour I promise that I will do my best—  
To do my duty to God and the King  
To help other people at all times and  
To obey the Scout Law."

"UP" everyone drop their hands after the signal.

"Flag Raiser!" A member walked to the flagpole and tugged the rope where a folded green cloth was hung. The cloth popped out a flag revealing a scout symbol emblazoned on the flag with KB-28 on the sides.

"Up!" the member shouted as he salutes, the others did as well. The second signal was shouted and everyone dropped their hands.

"Now that the ceremony is done, I would like to start my speech. First of all, to the new members, welcome to our humble group of scouts and may you get to hone skills while you are under our program. For the year 3 scouts, your evaluation for the Air/Land/Sea training would be done by Tisha, Hsienlong and Veexiang. From then on, you will be chosen which line of scouts you will follow. Since it's the start of the year, I would like to encourage all of you, new or old, to form a clan of your own, as for the first 4 months, our activities would be based on clan activities since the clan system reflects the patrol system in scout. And anyways, you can earn money while you're at it. New members would be paired with senior members so please do give your cooperation with your new buddy."

"What about in school activities?"

"There would be no activities for the first four months. Activities would be solely based on clan activities and how you can manage your own clan and how much can you earn within this period of time."

Everyone gasped in surprised as Dan announce this.

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Author's last words: So yeah, there were a lot of Chimbian names in this chapter, so for this session of author's last words(and thank goodness Dan and Ann isn't here keeping me hostage like this...), we'll be talking about Chimbian names. So we'll use Hing Jyishen's name. Hing is his family's name while Jyi is the generation name while Shen is his real and own personal name. There are a few main family names mostly are Lee, Chan, Chow and Tan. While generation names are determined by the first-born of the (large and main) family. Most of the time people would call the generation name and the personal name together.


End file.
